Boston Ransomware Defense and Removal Services

Ransomware has been weaponized by cyber extortionists and rogue governments, representing a possibly lethal threat to companies that are victimized. Modern versions of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial restoration a challenging and costly exercise. New versions of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, LockBit and Egregor have emerged, replacing Locky, Cerber, and NotPetya in prominence, sophistication, and destructive impact.

Most ransomware infections come from innocent-seeming emails with malicious links or attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" attacks that elude detection by traditional signature-matching antivirus tools. Although user training and up-front detection are critical to protect your network against ransomware attacks, best practices demand that you assume some malware will inevitably get through and that you prepare a strong backup solution that permits you to recover rapidly with little if any losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Checkup is an ultra-affordable service built around a remote discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant skilled in ransomware protection and repair. In the course of this assessment Progent will work with your Boston IT management staff to gather pertinent information about your cybersecurity posture and backup processes. Progent will utilize this data to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to apply best practices for implementing and administering your cybersecurity and backup solution to prevent or recover from a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report focuses on key areas related to ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review addresses:

Cybersecurity

• Effective allocation and use of administration accounts
• Correct NTFS and SMB authorizations
• Optimal firewall settings
• Safe RDP connections
• Guidance for AntiVirus (AV) tools identification and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup integrity
• Backing up key servers including Active Directory
• Geographically dispersed backups including cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they cannot be used or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware often locks the victim's computer. To avoid the damage, the victim is asked to send a specified ransom, usually via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short period of time. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will recover the lost data or prevent its publication. Files can be altered or deleted throughout a network depending on the target's write permissions, and you cannot reverse engineer the military-grade encryption technologies used on the compromised files. A typical ransomware delivery package is booby-trapped email, in which the victim is lured into interacting with by means of a social engineering technique known as spear phishing. This makes the email to look as though it came from a trusted source. Another popular attack vector is a poorly protected Remote Desktop Protocol 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 estimated at billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Famous attacks include Locky, and Petya. Recent headline variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and Cerber are more elaborate and have caused more damage than older versions. Even if your backup processes enable you to recover your encrypted files, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where stolen documents are exposed to the public. Because new versions of ransomware are launched every day, there is no certainty that traditional signature-based anti-virus filters will block the latest attack. If an attack does show up in an email, it is important that your users have been taught to identify social engineering techniques. Your ultimate defense is a solid process for performing and keeping offsite backups plus the deployment of reliable recovery platforms.

Contact Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Report in Boston
For pricing details and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Readiness Review can bolster your defense against ransomware in Boston, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.