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Crypto-Ransomware : Your Feared IT Nightmare
Crypto-Ransomware has become a too-frequent cyberplague that represents an extinction-level danger for businesses of all sizes vulnerable to an assault. Multiple generations of crypto-ransomware like the Reveton, WannaCry, Bad Rabbit, NotPetya and MongoLock cryptoworms have been running rampant for years and still inflict damage. The latest variants of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, LockBit or Egregor, as well as additional unnamed malware, not only do encryption of online data but also infect any accessible system protection mechanisms. Files synched to cloud environments can also be ransomed. In a poorly designed data protection solution, it can make automated restore operations hopeless and effectively sets the network back to zero.

Recovering services and information after a ransomware outage becomes a sprint against the clock as the victim struggles to stop lateral movement, cleanup the virus, and resume enterprise-critical operations. Due to the fact that ransomware requires time to move laterally, assaults are usually sprung on weekends and holidays, when successful attacks are likely to take longer to identify. This compounds the difficulty of promptly assembling and orchestrating a qualified response team.

Progent offers an assortment of solutions for securing organizations from crypto-ransomware attacks. These include user training to become familiar with and not fall victim to phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, in addition to setup and configuration of the latest generation security gateways with machine learning capabilities from SentinelOne to identify and quarantine day-zero cyber threats intelligently. Progent in addition provides the assistance of veteran crypto-ransomware recovery consultants with the track record and perseverance to reconstruct a compromised network as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Restoration Help
Soon after a crypto-ransomware attack, even paying the ransom in cryptocurrency does not ensure that cyber criminals will return the codes to decrypt any of your data. Kaspersky determined that 17% of crypto-ransomware victims never restored their files even after having paid the ransom, resulting in increased losses. The risk is also costly. Ryuk ransoms are often a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can be in the millions of dollars. The other path is to setup from scratch the key components of your IT environment. Without access to full information backups, this calls for a broad complement of IT skills, well-coordinated team management, and the capability to work non-stop until the job is complete.

For decades, Progent has made available certified expert Information Technology services for companies throughout the US and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's pool of subject matter experts includes consultants who have been awarded top certifications in key technologies such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity experts have earned internationally-renowned certifications including CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, CRISC, SANS GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent also has expertise in financial management and ERP software solutions. This breadth of expertise provides Progent the capability to knowledgably determine important systems and integrate the remaining components of your Information Technology system following a ransomware event and configure them into a functioning network.

Progent's recovery group utilizes state-of-the-art project management tools to coordinate the complex restoration process. Progent understands the urgency of acting swiftly and in unison with a client's management and IT staff to assign priority to tasks and to put critical systems back on-line as soon as humanly possible.

Customer Story: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Intrusion Restoration
A client hired Progent after their organization was penetrated by Ryuk crypto-ransomware. Ryuk is thought to have been created by Northern Korean state sponsored criminal gangs, possibly adopting approaches leaked from America's NSA organization. Ryuk seeks specific businesses with limited ability to sustain disruption and is one of the most profitable versions of ransomware. Major organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based data warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a regional manufacturing company headquartered in the Chicago metro area with around 500 staff members. The Ryuk event had paralyzed all company operations and manufacturing processes. Most of the client's data protection had been directly accessible at the beginning of the attack and were destroyed. The client was pursuing financing for paying the ransom demand (in excess of $200,000) and praying for good luck, but in the end reached out to Progent.

Progent worked hand in hand the client to quickly identify and prioritize the essential elements that had to be restored in order to continue company functions:

• Windows Active Directory
• Email
• Financials/MRP

In less than two days, Progent was able to recover Windows Active Directory to its pre-penetration state. Progent then completed rebuilding and hard drive recovery of critical applications. All Exchange Server ties and attributes were intact, which accelerated the restore of Exchange. Progent was able to locate intact OST data files (Outlook Email Off-Line Folder Files) on staff PCs in order to recover email information. A not too old off-line backup of the customer's financials/MRP systems made it possible to restore these required applications back online. Although a lot of work remained to recover completely from the Ryuk attack, critical systems were recovered rapidly:

During the following few weeks important milestones in the restoration process were achieved in tight collaboration between Progent engineers and the customer:

• Internal web sites were brought back up without losing any information.
• The MailStore Server exceeding 4 million historical messages was restored to operations and available for users.
• CRM/Product Ordering/Invoicing/Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivables/Inventory capabilities were completely functional.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was set up and programmed.
• Most of the user desktops and notebooks were back into operation.

Conclusion
A probable company-ending catastrophe was evaded due to hard-working experts, a wide range of IT skills, and tight teamwork. Although upon completion of forensics the ransomware virus incident detailed here should have been stopped with current security technology solutions and NIST Cybersecurity Framework or ISO/IEC 27001 best practices, user and IT administrator education, and well designed incident response procedures for information backup and proper patching controls, the reality remains that state-sponsored criminal cyber gangs from China, Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are relentless and are an ongoing threat. If you do get hit by a ransomware attack, feel confident that Progent's roster of professionals has proven experience in crypto-ransomware virus defense, removal, and data disaster recovery.

To review or download a PDF version of this customer case study, click:
Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)

Additional Ransomware Protection Services Available from Progent
Progent offers companies in Anaheim a portfolio of online monitoring and security assessment services designed to help you to reduce the threat from ransomware. These services utilize next-generation AI technology to detect new variants of ransomware that can evade legacy signature-based anti-virus solutions.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Remote Monitoring
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop remote monitoring managed service that uses advanced remote monitoring and management techniques to keep your network operating efficiently by checking the state of critical assets that drive your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers an issue, an alert is transmitted automatically to your designated IT management staff and your Progent consultant so that any potential problems can be addressed before they can impact your network. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM for Networks, Servers, and Desktops
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a centralized, cloud-driven solution for monitoring and managing your client-server infrastructure by providing an environment for streamlining common tedious jobs. These can include health checking, update management, automated repairs, endpoint deployment, backup and recovery, anti-virus protection, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reporting, and debugging assistance. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM spots a serious problem, it transmits an alert to your specified IT personnel and your Progent consultant so potential problems can be taken care of before they interfere with productivity. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Management
  ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it easy and affordable for smaller organizations to diagram, monitor, enhance and debug their connectivity hardware such as routers and switches, firewalls, and wireless controllers as well as servers, endpoints and other devices. Using cutting-edge Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) technology, WAN Watch ensures that infrastructure topology diagrams are kept updated, copies and manages the configuration information of almost all devices on your network, monitors performance, and sends notices when issues are detected. By automating time-consuming management and troubleshooting activities, ProSight WAN Watch can cut hours off common chores such as network mapping, expanding your network, locating appliances that need critical software patches, or isolating performance bottlenecks. Find out more about ProSight WAN Watch infrastructure monitoring and management services.

• ProSight Reporting: In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding suite of real-time and in-depth reporting tools designed to work with the top ticketing and remote network monitoring programs including ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting incorporates Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to surface and contextualize key issues like inconsistent support follow-through or endpoints with missing patches. By identifying ticketing or network health problems clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves productivity, lowers management overhead, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring platforms.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery Services
  Progent has worked with leading backup/restore technology providers to produce ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a family of subscription-based offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service (BaaS). ProSight DPS products manage and monitor your data backup operations and enable transparent backup and rapid restoration of important files, apps, images, plus VMs. ProSight DPS helps your business avoid data loss resulting from hardware failures, natural calamities, fire, cyber attacks like ransomware, user error, malicious employees, or application bugs. Managed backup services in the ProSight DPS product line include ProSight Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight ECHO Backup using Barracuda dedicated storage, and ProSight DPS MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent service representative can assist you to determine which of these fully managed services are best suited for your IT environment.

• ProSight Email Guard: Inbound and Outbound Spam Filtering and Data Leakage Protection
  ProSight Email Guard is Progent's spam and virus filtering and email encryption service that incorporates the infrastructure of top information security vendors to deliver centralized control and world-class security for your email traffic. The hybrid architecture of Email Guard combines cloud-based filtering with an on-premises gateway device to provide advanced defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, DHAs, and other email-based malware. Email Guard's cloud filter acts as a preliminary barricade and keeps the vast majority of threats from reaching your network firewall. This decreases your vulnerability to inbound attacks and saves network bandwidth and storage space. Email Guard's onsite gateway appliance provides a deeper layer of inspection for inbound email. For outgoing email, the on-premises security gateway offers anti-virus and anti-spam protection, protection against data leaks, and email encryption. The local gateway can also assist Microsoft Exchange Server to monitor and safeguard internal email that originates and ends within your corporate firewall. For more information, see ProSight Email Guard spam and content filtering.

• ProSight Duo Two-Factor Authentication: Identity Validation, Endpoint Remediation, and Protected Single Sign-on
  Progent's Duo authentication managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using Duo 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and give your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a unit that only you possess and that uses a separate network channel. A wide range of devices can be used as this second means of authentication such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register multiple validation devices. For more information about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

• Progent's Outsourced/Shared Service Desk: Support Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Support Desk services permit your IT team to offload Help Desk services to Progent or split activity for support services seamlessly between your in-house support resources and Progent's nationwide roster of certified IT support technicians, engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Co-managed Service Desk provides a smooth extension of your internal IT support staff. User access to the Service Desk, delivery of support services, escalation, ticket creation and tracking, performance metrics, and management of the service database are cohesive whether incidents are resolved by your core IT support organization, by Progent's team, or by a combination. Find out more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Call Center services.

• Active Protection Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Detection and Remediation
  Progent's Active Defense Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that utilizes cutting edge behavior-based analysis technology to defend endpoint devices and physical and virtual servers against modern malware attacks such as ransomware and email phishing, which easily get by traditional signature-based anti-virus tools. Progent Active Security Monitoring services safeguard on-premises and cloud resources and offers a single platform to manage the complete threat progression including blocking, infiltration detection, containment, remediation, and post-attack forensics. Key capabilities include single-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and real-time system-wide immunization against newly discovered threats. Find out more about Progent's ransomware protection and recovery services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service is a cloud-based IT documentation management service that makes it easy to capture, update, retrieve and protect information related to your IT infrastructure, processes, business apps, and services. You can quickly locate passwords or IP addresses and be warned about impending expirations of SSL certificates or warranties. By cleaning up and managing your network documentation, you can eliminate as much as half of time spent searching for vital information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a centralized location for storing and collaborating on all documents related to managing your business network like standard operating procedures and How-To's. ProSight IT Asset Management also supports advanced automation for collecting and relating IT data. Whether you're planning improvements, doing regular maintenance, or reacting to an emergency, ProSight IT Asset Management gets you the information you require as soon as you need it. Find out more about Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Software/Firmware Update Management Services
  Progent's managed services for software and firmware patch management provide organizations of any size a flexible and cost-effective alternative for evaluating, validating, scheduling, implementing, and documenting updates to your ever-evolving IT system. Besides optimizing the security and functionality of your computer environment, Progent's software/firmware update management services permit your in-house IT staff to focus on line-of-business initiatives and tasks that deliver the highest business value from your information network. Read more about Progent's patch management support services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted VMs at Progent's Tier III Data Center
  With ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small or mid-size organization can have its critical servers and apps hosted in a secure fault tolerant data center on a high-performance virtual host configured and managed by Progent's IT support experts. With the ProSight Virtual Hosting service model, the customer owns the data, the OS platforms, and the apps. Since the system is virtualized, it can be ported immediately to an alternate hardware environment without a lengthy and technically risky configuration procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not locked into a single hosting provider. Find out more details about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection solution that incorporates SentinelOne's next generation behavior analysis tools to defend physical and virtual endpoints against new malware attacks such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely escape traditional signature-based AV products. ProSight Active Security Monitoring protects on-premises and cloud resources and offers a single platform to manage the entire malware attack lifecycle including protection, infiltration detection, mitigation, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Top capabilities include one-click rollback with Windows VSS and real-time system-wide immunization against newly discovered threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP): Physical and Virtual Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Exchange Filtering
  ProSight Enhanced Security Protection services deliver economical multi-layer security for physical and virtual servers, desktops, smartphones, and Exchange Server. ProSight ESP utilizes contextual security and advanced machine learning for continuously monitoring and reacting to cyber assaults from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP provides firewall protection, penetration alerts, device management, and web filtering via leading-edge technologies incorporated within a single agent managed from a single control. Progent's data protection and virtualization experts can assist your business to design and configure a ProSight ESP deployment that addresses your organization's specific needs and that helps you achieve and demonstrate compliance with government and industry information protection standards. Progent will assist you define and implement policies that ProSight ESP will manage, and Progent will monitor your network and react to alarms that require urgent attention. Progent can also assist your company to install and verify a backup and disaster recovery solution like ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can recover rapidly from a destructive cyber attack such as ransomware. Read more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) unified endpoint security and Microsoft Exchange filtering.