Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Access to a Senior Ransomware Engineer
Ransomware requires time to steal its way through a target network. Because of this, ransomware assaults are commonly unleashed on weekends and at night, when support staff may be slower to recognize a penetration and are least able to mount a rapid and forceful defense. The more lateral progress ransomware is able to achieve within a victim's network, the more time it will require to restore basic IT services and damaged files and the more data can be exfiltrated to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to help you to complete the urgent first phase in mitigating a ransomware attack by containing the malware. Progent's remote ransomware engineers can assist organizations in the Alpharetta metro area to identify and isolate breached servers and endpoints and guard clean assets from being compromised.
If your network has been breached by any strain of ransomware, don't panic. Get help quickly by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Response Expertise Offered in Alpharetta
Modern strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Netwalker, and Nephilim encrypt online files and attack any available backups. Data synched to the cloud can also be impacted. For a poorly defended network, this can make system recovery almost impossible and basically throws the IT system back to square one. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the hackers behind a ransomware assault, insist on a ransom fee in exchange for the decryptors needed to unlock encrypted files. Ransomware attacks also attempt to exfiltrate files and hackers require an additional settlement for not publishing this data on the dark web. Even if you can rollback your system to an acceptable date in time, exfiltration can be a major problem according to the sensitivity of the stolen data.
The restoration process after a ransomware penetration involves a number of distinct stages, the majority of which can be performed concurrently if the response workgroup has enough members with the necessary skill sets.
- Quarantine: This urgent initial response requires arresting the sideways progress of ransomware within your IT system. The longer a ransomware assault is permitted to go unrestricted, the more complex and more costly the recovery process. Because of this, Progent maintains a round-the-clock Ransomware Hotline staffed by seasoned ransomware response engineers. Quarantine processes consist of isolating infected endpoints from the network to block the contagion, documenting the IT system, and protecting entry points.
- Operational continuity: This covers restoring the IT system to a basic acceptable level of functionality with the least delay. This process is typically the top priority for the victims of the ransomware assault, who often perceive it to be an existential issue for their company. This activity also demands the broadest array of IT skills that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, desktops, notebooks and mobile phones, databases, office and mission-critical apps, network architecture, and safe remote access management. Progent's ransomware recovery experts use advanced workgroup tools to organize the complicated recovery process. Progent understands the urgency of working rapidly, continuously, and in concert with a customer's management and IT staff to prioritize activity and to put critical services back online as fast as possible.
- Data restoration: The work necessary to recover data impacted by a ransomware attack depends on the state of the systems, the number of files that are encrypted, and what recovery techniques are required. Ransomware assaults can destroy pivotal databases which, if not gracefully closed, might need to be reconstructed from scratch. This can include DNS and AD databases. Exchange and SQL Server depend on AD, and many manufacturing and other mission-critical applications are powered by Microsoft SQL Server. Often some detective work could be required to find clean data. For example, non-encrypted Outlook Email Offline Folder Files may have survived on staff PCs and notebooks that were not connected during the assault.
- Setting up modern antivirus/ransomware protection: Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring uses SentinelOne's behavioral analysis technology to give small and medium-sized businesses the benefits of the same AV tools implemented by some of the world's biggest corporations such as Walmart, Visa, and Salesforce. By providing real-time malware filtering, detection, containment, repair and forensics in a single integrated platform, Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring lowers total cost of ownership, simplifies administration, and expedites resumption of operations. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine incorporated in Progent's ASM was listed by Gartner Group as the "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner. Find out about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiation with the hacker Progent is experienced in negotiating ransom settlements with threat actors. This calls for working closely with the ransomware victim and the insurance provider, if there is one. Activities include determining the type of ransomware used in the assault; identifying and establishing communications the hacker persona; verifying decryption tool; deciding on a settlement with the victim and the insurance carrier; negotiating a settlement and schedule with the TA; confirming compliance with anti-money laundering sanctions; carrying out the crypto-currency payment to the TA; acquiring, reviewing, and using the decryption tool; troubleshooting decryption problems; creating a pristine environment; mapping and connecting datastores to match precisely their pre-encryption state; and reprovisioning physical and virtual devices and services.
- Forensic analysis: This activity involves uncovering the ransomware assault's storyline throughout the network from start to finish. This history of the way a ransomware assault travelled within the network assists you to assess the impact and highlights shortcomings in rules or processes that need to be corrected to avoid future break-ins. Forensics entails the examination of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object (GPO), Active Directory (AD), DNS servers, routers, firewalls, scheduled tasks, and basic Windows systems to look for variations. Forensic analysis is usually given a top priority by the cyber insurance provider. Since forensics can be time consuming, it is vital that other important activities such as operational continuity are performed in parallel. Progent maintains a large team of IT and cybersecurity experts with the skills needed to carry out the work of containment, operational resumption, and data restoration without interfering with forensics.
Progent's Qualifications
Progent has provided online and on-premises network services throughout the U.S. for over 20 years and has been awarded Microsoft's Gold Partner designation in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity practice areas. Progent's roster of subject matter experts includes consultants who have been awarded high-level certifications in core technology platforms such as Cisco networking, VMware, and major Linux distros. Progent's cybersecurity experts have earned prestigious certifications such as CISM, CISSP-ISSAP, and GIAC. (See certifications earned by Progent consultants). Progent also has top-tier support in financial and ERP application software. This breadth of skills allows Progent to salvage and integrate the undamaged pieces of your IT environment after a ransomware attack and reconstruct them rapidly into an operational network. Progent has worked with leading insurance carriers including Chubb to assist businesses recover from ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware System Restoration Consulting Services in Alpharetta
For ransomware system recovery expertise in the Alpharetta area, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or go to Contact Progent.