Charlotte Ransomware Prevention and Remediation Consulting

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for the major cyber-crime organizations and malicious governments, posing a possibly lethal threat to businesses that are breached. The latest versions of ransomware go after everything, including backup, making even selective restoration a complex and costly process. Novel strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, LockBit and Nephilim have made the headlines, replacing Locky, Spora, and NotPetya in notoriety, elaborateness, and destructiveness.

90% of crypto-ransomware penetrations are caused by innocuous-looking emails that have dangerous hyperlinks or file attachments, and a high percentage are so-called "zero-day" strains that can escape the defenses of legacy signature-matching antivirus filters. While user training and frontline detection are important to defend your network against ransomware, best practices dictate that you take for granted some malware will inevitably succeed and that you implement a solid backup solution that permits you to recover rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Checkup is an ultra-affordable service built around a remote interview with a Progent cybersecurity consultant skilled in ransomware defense and repair. In the course of this interview Progent will collaborate with your Charlotte IT management staff to gather pertinent information about your cybersecurity profile and backup processes. Progent will utilize this data to generate a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to apply leading practices for implementing and managing your cybersecurity and backup systems to block or recover from a ransomware attack.

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

Security

• Correct allocation and use of administration accounts
• Correct NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) authorizations
• Proper firewall configuration
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol connections
• Guidance for AntiVirus (AV) filtering selection and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Protecting key servers including AD
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts or steals a victim's files so they are unusable or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware often locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the victim is asked to pay a certain amount of money (the ransom), usually via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short period of time. It is never certain that delivering the ransom will recover the damaged data or avoid its publication. Files can be altered or erased throughout a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the strong encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A common ransomware delivery package is tainted email, in which the target is tricked into interacting with by means of a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This makes the email to look as though it came from a trusted sender. Another common vulnerability is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the modern era of ransomware in 2013, and the damage attributed to by different strains of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every two years. Notorious attacks include WannaCry, and Petya. Current headline threats like Ryuk, Maze and Spora are more complex and have wreaked more havoc than earlier strains. Even if your backup processes permit you to restore your ransomed data, you can still be hurt by so-called exfiltration, where stolen data are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because new variants of ransomware are launched daily, there is no guarantee that conventional signature-matching anti-virus tools will block the latest malware. If an attack does appear in an email, it is critical that your users have learned to be aware of phishing techniques. Your ultimate defense is a sound process for scheduling and retaining offsite backups and the use of reliable restoration platforms.

Contact Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Readiness Report in Charlotte
For pricing information and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Assessment can bolster your protection against crypto-ransomware in Charlotte, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.