Calgary Ransomware Filtering and Remediation Solutions

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for cyber extortionists and malicious governments, representing a potentially lethal threat to companies that fall victim. Modern versions of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial recovery a challenging and costly process. Novel strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, DopplePaymer, Snatch and Egregor have made the headlines, replacing WannaCry, TeslaCrypt, and CryptoWall in notoriety, sophistication, and destructiveness.

90% of ransomware infections are caused by innocuous-seeming emails with dangerous hyperlinks or attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" attacks that elude the defenses of traditional signature-based antivirus tools. Although user training and frontline detection are important to protect against ransomware, best practices dictate that you expect that some attacks will inevitably succeed and that you deploy a strong backup mechanism that enables you to recover rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is a low-cost service built around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity expert experienced in ransomware protection and recovery. In the course of this assessment Progent will work with your Calgary network management staff to collect pertinent information concerning your cybersecurity configuration and backup environment. Progent will use this data to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Report detailing how to apply best practices for implementing and administering your cybersecurity and backup systems to block or recover from a crypto-ransomware assault.

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

Security

• Proper allocation and use of administration accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB authorizations
• Optimal firewall setup
• Safe RDP connections
• Advice about AntiVirus filtering selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup protection
• Backing up key servers including Active Directory
• Geographically dispersed backups with cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts or steals files so they are unusable or are publicized. Ransomware often locks the victim's computer. To prevent the carnage, the victim is asked to send a certain amount of money (the ransom), typically via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short period of time. It is not guaranteed that delivering the ransom will recover the lost files or avoid its exposure to the public. Files can be encrypted or deleted throughout a network depending on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot reverse engineer the military-grade encryption technologies used on the hostage files. A common ransomware delivery package is tainted email, in which the target is tricked into interacting with by a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This causes the email to appear to come from a trusted sender. Another common vulnerability is an improperly protected RDP port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses attributed to by different strains of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars per year, more than doubling every two years. Notorious attacks include Locky, and NotPetya. Recent headline threats like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and TeslaCrypt are more sophisticated and have caused more damage than older versions. Even if your backup procedures allow your business to recover your ransomed files, you can still be hurt by exfiltration, where stolen data are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional versions of ransomware crop up every day, there is no guarantee that traditional signature-based anti-virus filters will block the latest attack. If threat does show up in an email, it is critical that your end users have learned to be aware of social engineering tricks. Your ultimate protection is a solid scheme for performing and retaining remote backups plus the use of dependable restoration platforms.

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