Austin Ransomware Filtering and Recovery Services

Ransomware has been widely adopted by cyber extortionists and malicious states, posing a potentially existential threat to companies that are successfully attacked. Modern versions of ransomware target all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even selective restoration a long and costly exercise. Novel strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, LockBit and Egregor have emerged, displacing Locky, TeslaCrypt, and Petya in prominence, elaborateness, and destructive impact.

90% of ransomware infections are caused by innocuous-looking emails that include dangerous links or file attachments, and many are "zero-day" variants that elude the defenses of legacy signature-matching antivirus tools. While user training and up-front detection are critical to protect your network against ransomware attacks, leading practices demand that you assume some malware will eventually get through and that you prepare a strong backup solution that permits you to restore files and services rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Assessment is an ultra-affordable service built around an online interview with a Progent security consultant experienced in ransomware defense and recovery. During this assessment Progent will work directly with your Austin network managers to gather pertinent data concerning your security posture and backup environment. Progent will utilize this information to generate a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to follow leading practices for implementing and managing your cybersecurity and backup systems to prevent or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment highlights vital issues associated with crypto-ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Security

• Proper allocation and use of admin accounts
• Assigning NTFS and SMB authorizations
• Proper firewall configuration
• Safe Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access
• Recommend AntiVirus (AV) tools identification and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup integrity
• Protecting key servers such as Active Directory
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malicious software that encrypts or steals a victim's files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the target's computer. To prevent the carnage, the victim is required to send a certain ransom, usually via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short time window. It is not guaranteed that delivering the extortion price will restore the damaged data or prevent its publication. Files can be encrypted or erased throughout a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot break the strong encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A common ransomware attack vector is tainted email, in which the target is lured into responding to by a social engineering exploit called spear phishing. This causes the email message to look as though it came from a familiar sender. Another popular attack vector is an improperly protected Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses attributed to by the many versions of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Notorious examples are Locky, and NotPetya. Current high-profile variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and CryptoWall are more complex and have caused more havoc than earlier versions. Even if your backup procedures enable your business to recover your encrypted data, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where stolen data are exposed to the public (known as "doxxing"). Because new variants of ransomware crop up daily, there is no guarantee that conventional signature-based anti-virus filters will block the latest attack. If threat does appear in an email, it is critical that your end users have learned to identify phishing techniques. Your ultimate protection is a sound scheme for scheduling and keeping remote backups plus the deployment of reliable restoration platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Readiness Assessment in Austin
For pricing information and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Vulnerability Review can enhance your defense against ransomware in Austin, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.