Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Access to a Top-tier Ransomware Engineer
Ransomware requires time to work its way across a target network. For this reason, ransomware assaults are commonly launched on weekends and late at night, when IT personnel are likely to take longer to recognize a breach and are least able to organize a rapid and forceful defense. The more lateral progress ransomware can make within a victim's system, the more time it takes to restore core IT services and damaged files and the more information can be stolen and posted to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is designed to assist you to take the time-critical first phase in mitigating a ransomware attack by containing the malware. Progent's remote ransomware experts can assist organizations in the Anchorage area to identify and quarantine breached servers and endpoints and protect clean resources from being penetrated.
If your system has been breached by any version of ransomware, act fast. Get help quickly by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Response Services Available in Anchorage
Current strains of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Netwalker, and Egregor encrypt online data and attack any available backups. Files synched to the cloud can also be impacted. For a vulnerable environment, this can make system recovery almost impossible and basically knocks the IT system back to square one. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the hackers responsible for ransomware assault, demand a settlement payment for the decryption tools required to recover scrambled files. Ransomware assaults also attempt to exfiltrate files and hackers require an additional payment in exchange for not publishing this data or selling it. Even if you are able to rollback your network to a tolerable date in time, exfiltration can be a major issue depending on the nature of the stolen information.
The restoration work subsequent to ransomware attack involves several crucial phases, most of which can be performed in parallel if the recovery team has a sufficient number of people with the necessary experience.
- Containment: This time-critical first step requires blocking the sideways progress of ransomware across your IT system. The more time a ransomware attack is allowed to go unchecked, the longer and more expensive the recovery effort. Recognizing this, Progent keeps a 24x7 Ransomware Hotline staffed by veteran ransomware response engineers. Quarantine activities consist of isolating affected endpoints from the rest of network to minimize the spread, documenting the environment, and protecting entry points.
- System continuity: This involves bringing back the network to a basic acceptable level of functionality with the shortest possible downtime. This effort is typically at the highest level of urgency for the targets of the ransomware attack, who often see it as an existential issue for their company. This project also demands the widest array of IT skills that span domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual machines, PCs, notebooks and smart phones, databases, office and line-of-business apps, network topology, and safe remote access. Progent's recovery team uses state-of-the-art collaboration platforms to coordinate the complicated restoration process. Progent understands the importance of working rapidly, tirelessly, and in concert with a customer's management and IT group to prioritize activity and to put critical services back online as quickly as possible.
- Data restoration: The effort necessary to recover files impacted by a ransomware attack varies according to the condition of the systems, how many files are affected, and what recovery methods are required. Ransomware assaults can destroy critical databases which, if not gracefully closed, may have to be rebuilt from scratch. This can include DNS and Active Directory (AD) databases. Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server depend on Active Directory, and many ERP and other mission-critical platforms depend on SQL Server. Some detective work may be needed to locate undamaged data. For instance, undamaged Outlook Email Offline Folder Files may have survived on staff desktop computers and notebooks that were not connected during the attack. Progent's ProSight Data Protection Services utilize Altaro VM Backup technology to protect against ransomware by leveraging Immutable Cloud Storage. This produces tamper-proof data that cannot be erased or modified by any user including administrators.
- Setting up advanced AV/ransomware defense: Progent's ProSight ASM uses SentinelOne's behavioral analysis technology to give small and mid-sized companies the advantages of the same AV tools used by many of the world's largest enterprises such as Netflix, Visa, and NASDAQ. By providing real-time malware filtering, detection, containment, restoration and analysis in a single integrated platform, Progent's ASM reduces TCO, streamlines management, and expedites recovery. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection (NGEP) built into in Progent's ASM was listed by Gartner Group as the "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Read about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiation with the hacker Progent has experience negotiating settlements with hackers. This calls for working closely with the victim and the cyber insurance provider, if there is one. Activities consist of determining the type of ransomware involved in the assault; identifying and making contact with the hacker persona; verifying decryption capabilities; budgeting a settlement with the victim and the cyber insurance carrier; establishing a settlement and timeline with the hacker; checking compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) sanctions; overseeing the crypto-currency payment to the TA; acquiring, learning, and operating the decryptor utility; troubleshooting decryption problems; creating a clean environment; mapping and reconnecting drives to reflect exactly their pre-attack state; and restoring machines and services.
- Forensics: This process is aimed at learning the ransomware assault's storyline throughout the network from beginning to end. This audit trail of the way a ransomware attack progressed within the network helps your IT staff to assess the impact and brings to light weaknesses in rules or work habits that need to be corrected to avoid future break-ins. Forensics entails the review of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object (GPO), Active Directory, DNS, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and core Windows systems to detect changes. Forensic analysis is typically given a top priority by the cyber insurance provider. Because forensics can be time consuming, it is vital that other key recovery processes like operational resumption are pursued in parallel. Progent maintains an extensive roster of IT and data security professionals with the knowledge and experience required to perform the work of containment, operational continuity, and data restoration without interfering with forensic analysis.
Progent's Qualifications
Progent has delivered online and on-premises IT services across the United States for over two decades and has earned Microsoft's Partner certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes professionals who have been awarded advanced certifications in foundation technology platforms such as Cisco networking, VMware, and popular Linux distros. Progent's data security experts have earned internationally recognized certifications such as CISA, CISSP, CRISC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to certifications earned by Progent consultants). Progent also has guidance in financial management and ERP software. This breadth of expertise allows Progent to identify and integrate the surviving pieces of your information system after a ransomware intrusion and rebuild them rapidly into an operational system. Progent has collaborated with top insurance providers like Chubb to assist organizations clean up after ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware Recovery Consulting in Anchorage
For ransomware cleanup consulting services in the Anchorage metro area, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.