Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Help from a Senior Ransomware Consultant
Ransomware requires time to work its way through a target network. For this reason, ransomware attacks are commonly launched on weekends and late at night, when IT staff are likely to be slower to recognize a break-in and are least able to organize a quick and coordinated response. The more lateral movement ransomware can achieve within a target's system, the longer it takes to recover core IT services and scrambled files and the more information can be stolen and posted to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is designed to assist organizations to complete the urgent first step in mitigating a ransomware assault by stopping the bleeding. Progent's online ransomware engineers can help organizations in the Baton Rouge area to identify and isolate breached devices and protect clean assets from being penetrated.
If your network has been penetrated 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 Available in Baton Rouge
Modern strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, and Egregor encrypt online data and infiltrate any accessible system restores and backups. Data synched to the cloud can also be impacted. For a poorly defended environment, this can make automated restoration nearly impossible and effectively knocks the IT system back to square one. So-called Threat Actors, the hackers responsible for ransomware assault, insist on a ransom fee in exchange for the decryptors needed to unlock encrypted files. Ransomware assaults also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") files and TAs require an additional ransom for not publishing this data or selling it. Even if you are able to restore your system to an acceptable date in time, exfiltration can be a big problem according to the sensitivity of the stolen data.
The restoration work after a ransomware attack has several distinct phases, most of which can be performed concurrently if the response workgroup has a sufficient number of members with the required skill sets.
- Quarantine: This urgent first step requires arresting the sideways progress of ransomware across your IT system. The more time a ransomware attack is permitted to run unrestricted, the longer and more costly the restoration process. Because of this, Progent maintains a round-the-clock Ransomware Hotline monitored by veteran ransomware response engineers. Containment activities consist of cutting off infected endpoints from the rest of network to restrict the contagion, documenting the environment, and securing entry points.
- Operational continuity: This involves bringing back the network to a minimal acceptable level of functionality with the shortest possible downtime. This process is usually the highest priority for the targets of the ransomware assault, who often see it as an existential issue for their business. This project also demands the broadest array of technical abilities that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, desktops, laptops and smart phones, databases, productivity and mission-critical applications, network architecture, and secure endpoint access management. Progent's recovery experts use advanced collaboration tools to coordinate the complicated recovery effort. Progent understands the urgency of working quickly, continuously, and in concert with a client's management and IT group to prioritize activity and to get essential services back online as quickly as possible.
- Data restoration: The effort necessary to recover data damaged by a ransomware attack depends on the state of the network, the number of files that are encrypted, and which recovery techniques are required. Ransomware attacks can take down key databases which, if not gracefully closed, might have to be reconstructed from scratch. This can apply to DNS and AD databases. Exchange and SQL Server rely on AD, and many financial and other business-critical platforms depend on Microsoft SQL Server. Some detective work could be needed to find undamaged data. For example, undamaged OST files (Outlook Email Offline Folder Files) may exist on employees' desktop computers and notebooks that were not connected at the time of the ransomware attack. Progent's Altaro VM Backup experts can assist you to deploy immutability for cloud object storage, allowing tamper-proof data while under the defined policy so that backup data cannot be modified or deleted by anyone including administrators. This provides an extra level of security and recoverability in case of a successful ransomware attack.
- Setting up advanced antivirus/ransomware protection: ProSight ASM utilizes SentinelOne's machine learning technology to offer small and mid-sized businesses the advantages of the identical AV technology deployed by some of the world's largest corporations such as Walmart, Visa, and NASDAQ. By providing real-time malware filtering, identification, containment, repair and analysis in a single integrated platform, Progent's ProSight ASM lowers total cost of ownership, streamlines administration, and promotes rapid resumption of operations. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine built into in ProSight Active Security Monitoring was ranked by Gartner Group as the "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)." 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.
- Negotiating a settlement with the threat actor (TA): Progent is experienced in negotiating settlements with threat actors. This calls for close co-operation with the victim and the insurance provider, if any. Services include determining the kind of ransomware used in the attack; identifying and establishing communications the hacker persona; testing decryption tool; deciding on a settlement with the victim and the cyber insurance carrier; establishing a settlement amount and schedule with the TA; checking adherence to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations; overseeing the crypto-currency transfer to the hacker; acquiring, reviewing, and using the decryptor tool; troubleshooting failed files; building a pristine environment; remapping and connecting drives to reflect precisely their pre-encryption condition; and reprovisioning computers and software services.
- Forensic analysis: This activity involves discovering the ransomware attack'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 uncovers shortcomings in policies or processes that should be rectified to avoid later breaches. Forensics involves the examination of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object (GPO), Active Directory (AD), DNS, routers, firewalls, scheduled tasks, and basic Windows systems to look for changes. Forensic analysis is usually assigned a high priority by the insurance provider. Because forensics can take time, it is essential that other important recovery processes such as operational resumption are executed in parallel. Progent maintains a large roster of IT and data security experts with the skills required to carry out the work of containment, business resumption, and data recovery without disrupting forensics.
Progent's Background
Progent has delivered remote and onsite IT services across the U.S. for more than two decades and has been awarded Microsoft's Gold Partner designation in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity practice areas. 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 virtualization, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's data security experts have earned prestigious certifications including CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, and GIAC. (See certifications earned by Progent consultants). Progent also offers top-tier support in financial and ERP application software. This scope of expertise allows Progent to salvage and consolidate the undamaged parts of your information system following a ransomware intrusion and rebuild them quickly into a functioning system. Progent has collaborated with leading cyber insurance carriers including Chubb to assist businesses recover from ransomware assaults.
Contact Progent for Ransomware Recovery Services in Baton Rouge
For ransomware system recovery expertise in the Baton Rouge area, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or go to Contact Progent.