Allen Ransomware Defense and Removal Expertise

Ransomware has been widely adopted by cyber extortionists and malicious governments, representing a possibly existential risk to companies that are breached. Modern strains of ransomware target everything, including backup, making even selective recovery a challenging and expensive exercise. Novel versions of crypto-ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, Snatch and Nephilim have emerged, replacing Locky, Spora, and CryptoWall in prominence, sophistication, and destructiveness.

90% of crypto-ransomware infections come from innocuous-looking emails that include dangerous links or attachments, and a high percentage are so-called "zero-day" attacks that can escape the defenses of traditional signature-matching antivirus tools. Although user training and up-front identification are critical to defend against ransomware, best practices demand that you assume some attacks will inevitably succeed and that you put in place a solid backup solution that allows you to restore files and services rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Report is a low-cost service centered around a remote interview with a Progent security consultant skilled in ransomware defense and repair. During this interview Progent will collaborate with your Allen IT managers to collect critical information concerning your security profile and backup processes. Progent will utilize this data to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment detailing how to follow leading practices for configuring and administering your security and backup solution to block or recover from a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report highlights vital issues associated with crypto-ransomware prevention and restoration recovery. The report addresses:

Security

• Correct allocation and use of administration accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB permissions
• Optimal firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol access
• Guidance for AntiVirus (AV) filtering identification and deployment

• Split permission model for backup integrity
• Backing up critical servers including Active Directory
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a form of malicious software that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they cannot be used or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware often locks the target's computer. To prevent the carnage, the target is asked to send a certain amount of money (the ransom), usually via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a brief period of time. There is no guarantee that delivering the extortion price will recover the damaged files or prevent its publication. Files can be altered or deleted throughout a network based on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot reverse engineer the strong encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A typical ransomware attack vector is spoofed email, in which the target is tricked into interacting with by means of a social engineering technique known as spear phishing. This makes the email to appear to come from a familiar source. Another common attack vector is a poorly secured RDP port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by the many strains of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every other year. Notorious attacks are WannaCry, and NotPetya. Recent headline threats like Ryuk, Maze and CryptoWall are more elaborate and have wreaked more damage than earlier strains. Even if your backup/recovery processes allow your business to recover your ransomed files, you can still be hurt by exfiltration, where stolen documents are exposed to the public. Because new versions of ransomware crop up every day, there is no certainty that conventional signature-matching anti-virus filters will detect the latest attack. If threat does show up in an email, it is critical that your users have been taught to identify phishing techniques. Your last line of protection is a sound process for performing and retaining remote backups plus the use of reliable restoration tools.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Readiness Report in Allen
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Consultation can enhance your defense against ransomware in Allen, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.