Charleston Ransomware Prevention and Removal Expertise

Ransomware has been widely adopted by cyber extortionists and bad-actor states, representing a possibly lethal risk to companies that are breached. Modern variations of ransomware target all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial restoration a long and expensive process. Novel strains of crypto-ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, LockBit and Nephilim have made the headlines, displacing Locky, TeslaCrypt, and Petya in prominence, elaborateness, and destructive impact.

90% of ransomware infections come from innocuous-looking emails that have malicious hyperlinks or file attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" variants that can escape the defenses of legacy signature-matching antivirus (AV) filters. While user training and up-front identification are critical to defend your network against ransomware, leading practices dictate that you take for granted some malware will inevitably succeed and that you put in place a solid backup solution that allows you to restore files and services quickly with minimal damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Checkup is a low-cost service centered around a remote interview with a Progent cybersecurity consultant experienced in ransomware protection and repair. During this interview Progent will cooperate with your Charleston IT management staff to gather critical information concerning your cybersecurity posture and backup processes. Progent will use this data to generate a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to apply leading practices for configuring and administering your security and backup systems to block or clean up after a crypto-ransomware assault.

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

Cybersecurity

• Proper use of administration accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB permissions
• Proper firewall configuration
• Safe Remote Desktop Protocol access
• Guidance for AntiVirus filtering selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup integrity
• Backing up key servers such as AD
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malicious software that encrypts or steals files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Crypto-ransomware often locks the victim's computer. To prevent the carnage, the target is asked to pay a certain ransom, typically via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short time window. There is no guarantee that delivering the extortion price will recover the damaged data or avoid its publication. Files can be encrypted or erased across a network based on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot break the strong encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A typical ransomware attack vector is spoofed email, in which the victim is tricked into responding to by a social engineering exploit called spear phishing. This causes the email message to appear to come from a trusted source. Another common vulnerability is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by the many versions of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Notorious attacks include Locky, and Petya. Current high-profile threats like Ryuk, Sodinokibi and CryptoWall are more sophisticated and have wreaked more havoc than older versions. Even if your backup/recovery processes enable you to restore your ransomed data, you can still be hurt by so-called exfiltration, where stolen documents are made public. Because additional variants of ransomware crop up every day, there is no certainty that conventional signature-matching anti-virus tools will detect the latest attack. If an attack does appear in an email, it is critical that your users have learned to identify phishing tricks. Your ultimate protection is a solid scheme for scheduling and keeping remote backups and the use of dependable restoration platforms.

Contact Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Preparedness Assessment in Charleston
For pricing details and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Audit can enhance your defense against crypto-ransomware in Charleston, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.