Birmingham Ransomware Defense and Removal Solutions

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for cybercriminals and malicious governments, representing a possibly lethal risk to businesses that fall victim. The latest versions of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial restoration a long and expensive exercise. Novel variations of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, LockBit and Nephilim have made the headlines, replacing WannaCry, Spora, and CryptoWall in notoriety, sophistication, and destructive impact.

90% of ransomware infections are caused by innocent-looking emails with malicious links or attachments, and many are "zero-day" variants that can escape detection by legacy signature-based antivirus tools. While user training and up-front detection are important to protect your network against ransomware attacks, best practices dictate that you assume some malware will eventually get through and that you deploy a strong backup solution that allows you to restore files and services rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is an ultra-affordable service centered around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant experienced in ransomware defense and repair. During this interview Progent will collaborate with your Birmingham network managers to gather pertinent data about your cybersecurity setup and backup environment. Progent will use this information to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment documenting how to adhere to best practices for configuring and managing your security and backup systems to block or recover from a ransomware assault.

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

Cybersecurity

• Effective allocation and use of administration accounts
• Appropriate NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) authorizations
• Proper firewall configuration
• Secure RDP connections
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup protection
• Protecting key servers such as AD
• Geographically dispersed backups with cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they are unusable or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the victim is required to pay a specified amount of money, usually via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short period of time. There is no guarantee that delivering the extortion price will restore the lost files or prevent its exposure to the public. Files can be encrypted or erased throughout a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot break the military-grade encryption technologies used on the compromised files. A common ransomware attack vector is spoofed email, in which the target is lured into responding to by a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This causes the email to look as though it came from a trusted source. Another popular vulnerability is a poorly secured RDP port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the damage caused by the many versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Notorious attacks are WannaCry, and NotPetya. Recent high-profile threats like Ryuk, Maze and Spora are more elaborate and have caused more damage than older versions. Even if your backup/recovery procedures allow you to restore your ransomed files, you can still be hurt by so-called exfiltration, where stolen data are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because new variants of ransomware crop up daily, there is no guarantee that traditional signature-based anti-virus filters will detect a new attack. If an attack does appear in an email, it is important that your end users have been taught to be aware of social engineering tricks. Your last line of protection is a sound scheme for performing and keeping remote backups and the deployment of dependable recovery platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Readiness Testing in Birmingham
For pricing details and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Readiness Report can enhance your defense against crypto-ransomware in Birmingham, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.