Brighton Ransomware Defense and Recovery Expertise

Ransomware has been widely adopted by cyber extortionists and rogue governments, representing a potentially lethal threat to companies that are breached. The latest variations of ransomware target everything, including online backup, making even selective restoration a challenging and expensive exercise. New strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, Snatch and Egregor have emerged, replacing WannaCry, Cerber, and Petya in notoriety, elaborateness, and destructiveness.

Most crypto-ransomware breaches are caused by innocuous-looking emails that have dangerous links or attachments, and a high percentage are so-called "zero-day" strains that can escape detection by legacy signature-matching antivirus (AV) filters. Although user training and frontline detection are critical to defend your network against ransomware attacks, best practices dictate that you expect that some malware will eventually succeed and that you implement a strong backup mechanism that allows you to restore files and services rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Checkup is a low-cost service centered around an online interview with a Progent cybersecurity expert skilled in ransomware defense and repair. In the course of this interview Progent will work with your Brighton network managers to collect critical data about your cybersecurity setup and backup processes. Progent will use this information to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment detailing how to apply best practices for configuring and administering your security and backup systems to prevent or clean up after a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment highlights key areas associated with crypto-ransomware prevention and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Cybersecurity

• Effective use of administration accounts
• Appropriate NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) permissions
• Optimal firewall configuration
• Safe Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) configuration
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup integrity
• Backing up required servers including Active Directory
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malware that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the carnage, the victim is asked to pay a certain amount of money (the ransom), usually in the form of a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a brief time window. There is no guarantee that paying the ransom will restore the lost files or prevent its exposure to the public. Files can be encrypted or deleted across a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the strong encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A typical ransomware delivery package is spoofed email, in which the user is tricked into responding to by means of a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This makes the email message to look as though it came from a familiar source. Another common attack vector is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by the many versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every two years. Famous attacks are WannaCry, and NotPetya. Recent headline variants like Ryuk, Sodinokibi and Spora are more complex and have caused more havoc than older versions. Even if your backup procedures enable your business to recover your ransomed files, you can still be hurt by so-called exfiltration, where stolen data are exposed to the public. Because additional variants of ransomware crop up daily, there is no certainty that traditional signature-matching anti-virus filters will detect the latest malware. If threat does show up in an email, it is critical that your end users have learned to be aware of phishing techniques. Your ultimate protection is a solid process for performing and keeping offsite backups and the deployment of reliable restoration tools.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Evaluation in Brighton
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Preparedness Audit can bolster your defense against crypto-ransomware in Brighton, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.