Alexandria Ransomware Defense and Restoration Solutions

Ransomware has been weaponized by the major cyber-crime organizations and malicious states, representing a potentially lethal threat to companies that are victimized. Modern strains of crypto-ransomware go after everything, including backup, making even partial recovery a challenging and costly process. New variations of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, Conti and Nephilim have made the headlines, replacing WannaCry, Cerber, and Petya in prominence, elaborateness, and destructive impact.

Most crypto-ransomware penetrations are caused by innocent-seeming emails with dangerous links or file attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" attacks that elude detection by traditional signature-based antivirus tools. Although user training and up-front identification are important to defend against ransomware attacks, best practices demand that you take for granted some malware will inevitably get through and that you implement a solid backup mechanism that enables you to recover quickly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Assessment is an ultra-affordable service centered around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant experienced in ransomware protection and repair. During this interview Progent will collaborate with your Alexandria IT managers to collect pertinent data concerning your security profile and backup processes. Progent will use this data to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment detailing how to follow best practices for implementing and managing your security and backup systems to prevent or clean up after a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report highlights vital areas related to ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Security

• Correct allocation and use of admin accounts
• Assigning NTFS and SMB authorizations
• Optimal firewall configuration
• Safe RDP configuration
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) filtering selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup integrity
• Protecting key servers including Active Directory
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malware that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they are unusable or are publicized. Ransomware often locks the target's computer. To avoid the damage, the victim is asked to pay a certain amount of money, typically via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short time window. It is not guaranteed that delivering the ransom will restore the lost files or prevent its exposure to the public. Files can be encrypted or erased throughout a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the military-grade encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A common ransomware delivery package is spoofed email, whereby the user is lured into responding to by a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This makes the email message to appear to come from a trusted source. Another common attack vector is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the damage caused by the many versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Notorious attacks are Locky, and Petya. Current high-profile threats like Ryuk, Maze and TeslaCrypt are more complex and have wreaked more damage than earlier strains. Even if your backup/recovery processes permit your business to restore your encrypted data, you can still be threatened by so-called exfiltration, where ransomed data are exposed to the public. Because new versions of ransomware are launched every day, there is no certainty that conventional signature-matching anti-virus tools will detect the latest attack. If threat does show up in an email, it is important that your end users have been taught to be aware of social engineering techniques. Your ultimate defense is a sound process for scheduling and keeping offsite backups plus the deployment of dependable restoration platforms.

Contact Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Assessment in Alexandria
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Readiness Checkup can bolster your protection against ransomware in Alexandria, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.