Augusta-Richmond County Ransomware Protection and Restoration Solutions

Ransomware has been weaponized by cyber extortionists and bad-actor governments, posing a possibly lethal risk to companies that are victimized. The latest versions of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even selective recovery a long and expensive process. Novel versions of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), DopplePaymer, Snatch and Egregor have emerged, replacing WannaCry, Spora, and CryptoWall in notoriety, sophistication, and destructiveness.

90% of ransomware infections are caused by innocent-looking emails that have dangerous links or attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" strains that can escape the defenses of traditional signature-matching antivirus (AV) filters. While user training and frontline detection are critical to protect your network against ransomware, leading practices dictate that you take for granted some attacks will eventually get through and that you prepare a strong backup mechanism that allows you to recover rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is an ultra-affordable service built around an online discussion with a Progent security consultant skilled in ransomware protection and recovery. In the course of this assessment Progent will collaborate with your Augusta-Richmond County network management staff to collect critical data about your cybersecurity profile and backup environment. Progent will use this information to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment documenting how to adhere to leading practices for configuring and administering your cybersecurity and backup solution to prevent or recover from a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment focuses on key areas related to ransomware prevention and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Cybersecurity

• Proper use of admin accounts
• Correct NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB authorizations
• Optimal firewall setup
• Secure RDP access
• Advice about AntiVirus filtering identification and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Protecting key servers including AD
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts or steals files so they cannot be used or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the target's computer. To avoid the carnage, the target is asked to send a certain ransom, typically via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short time window. It is never certain that delivering the extortion price will restore the damaged files or avoid its exposure to the public. Files can be encrypted or erased across a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot break the strong encryption technologies used on the compromised files. A typical ransomware delivery package is tainted email, in which the target is lured into interacting with by means of a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This makes the email to look as though it came from a familiar sender. Another popular attack vector is an improperly secured RDP port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the damage attributed to by different versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Notorious examples include Locky, and NotPetya. Current headline variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and Spora are more sophisticated and have caused more havoc than earlier strains. Even if your backup/recovery processes permit you to restore your ransomed files, you can still be threatened by so-called exfiltration, where stolen data are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional versions of ransomware are launched daily, there is no guarantee that conventional signature-matching anti-virus tools will detect the latest malware. If an attack does show up in an email, it is critical that your users have been taught to identify social engineering tricks. Your last line of protection is a sound scheme for scheduling and retaining remote backups plus the deployment of dependable recovery tools.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Readiness Checkup in Augusta-Richmond County
For pricing details and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Readiness Consultation can enhance your defense against ransomware in Augusta-Richmond County, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.