Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Access to a Top-tier Ransomware Engineer
Ransomware needs time to work its way across a network. For this reason, ransomware assaults are commonly launched on weekends and at night, when IT staff may be slower to become aware of a breach and are less able to organize a rapid and coordinated response. The more lateral movement ransomware is able to manage within a victim's network, the longer it takes to restore basic operations and damaged files and the more information can be exfiltrated to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to assist you to complete the urgent first phase in responding to a ransomware attack by containing the malware. Progent's online ransomware experts can assist businesses in the Cincinnati metro area to identify and isolate breached servers and endpoints and guard undamaged assets from being penetrated.
If your network has been penetrated by any version of ransomware, act fast. Get immediate help by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Response Expertise Offered in Cincinnati
Current strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Netwalker, and Nephilim encrypt online data and invade any available system restores. Data synchronized to the cloud can also be corrupted. For a poorly defended network, this can make system restoration nearly impossible and effectively throws the datacenter back to square one. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the hackers behind a ransomware assault, demand a ransom fee in exchange for the decryptors required to unlock scrambled data. Ransomware attacks also try to exfiltrate information and TAs require an additional payment in exchange for not publishing this data on the dark web. Even if you are able to restore your system to a tolerable date in time, exfiltration can pose a major problem according to the sensitivity of the stolen data.
The restoration process after a ransomware attack involves a number of crucial phases, the majority of which can be performed concurrently if the response workgroup has enough people with the necessary skill sets.
- Containment: This time-critical first step involves blocking the lateral spread of ransomware across your network. The more time a ransomware attack is permitted to go unrestricted, the longer and more costly the restoration effort. Because of this, Progent keeps a round-the-clock Ransomware Hotline staffed by veteran ransomware response engineers. Quarantine activities consist of cutting off infected endpoints from the rest of network to restrict the spread, documenting the environment, and securing entry points.
- Operational continuity: This involves restoring the network to a minimal useful degree of capability with the least delay. This process is usually the highest priority for the victims of the ransomware attack, who often see it as an existential issue for their company. This activity also demands the widest range of IT skills that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual machines, desktops, notebooks and mobile phones, databases, office and line-of-business apps, network topology, and safe remote access. Progent's recovery experts use state-of-the-art workgroup tools to organize the multi-faceted recovery process. Progent appreciates the importance of working rapidly, tirelessly, and in concert with a client's management and IT group to prioritize tasks and to get vital services on line again as quickly as possible.
- Data restoration: The effort required to restore data damaged by a ransomware attack varies according to the state of the network, how many files are encrypted, and which restore techniques are needed. Ransomware assaults can take down pivotal databases which, if not carefully closed, might need to be reconstructed from the beginning. This can apply to DNS and Active Directory (AD) databases. Exchange and SQL Server depend on Active Directory, and many manufacturing and other business-critical platforms depend on SQL Server. Some detective work may be required to find clean data. For instance, undamaged OST files (Outlook Email Offline Folder Files) may have survived on staff PCs and notebooks that were not connected at the time of the attack.
- Deploying advanced AV/ransomware defense: Progent's Active Security Monitoring incorporates SentinelOne's machine learning technology to offer small and medium-sized companies the benefits of the same anti-virus tools implemented by some of the world's biggest enterprises including Netflix, Citi, and NASDAQ. By delivering real-time malware filtering, classification, mitigation, recovery and forensics in one integrated platform, Progent's ASM reduces TCO, streamlines management, and promotes rapid resumption of operations. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection (NGEP) built into in ProSight Active Security Monitoring was ranked by Gartner Group as the "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)." Progent is a certified SentinelOne Partner. Find out about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiation with the threat actor (TA): Progent has experience negotiating settlements with threat actors. This calls for close co-operation with the ransomware victim and the cyber insurance provider, if any. Activities consist of determining the type of ransomware used in the attack; identifying and establishing communications the hacker; testing decryption tool; budgeting a settlement amount with the victim and the insurance carrier; establishing a settlement and schedule with the TA; confirming adherence to anti-money laundering sanctions; carrying out the crypto-currency disbursement to the TA; acquiring, reviewing, and using the decryption utility; troubleshooting decryption problems; creating a clean environment; remapping and connecting drives to reflect exactly their pre-encryption condition; and reprovisioning physical and virtual devices and services.
- Forensics: This process involves uncovering the ransomware attack's progress across the targeted network from beginning to end. This audit trail of the way a ransomware attack travelled within the network helps your IT staff to evaluate the impact and highlights gaps in security policies or processes that should be rectified to prevent future break-ins. Forensics involves the examination of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object (GPO), AD, DNS servers, routers, firewalls, scheduled tasks, and basic Windows systems to check for anomalies. Forensics is typically given a high priority by the insurance provider. Because forensic analysis can take time, it is essential that other important recovery processes like business resumption are pursued concurrently. Progent has an extensive team of information technology and cybersecurity professionals with the knowledge and experience required to carry out the work of containment, operational resumption, and data restoration without disrupting forensics.
Progent's Background
Progent has delivered remote and onsite IT services across the United States for over two decades and has been awarded Microsoft's Gold Partner designation in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity practice areas. Progent's roster of subject matter experts includes consultants who have been awarded high-level certifications in core technologies including Cisco networking, VMware virtualization, and popular Linux distros. Progent's cybersecurity experts have earned prestigious certifications including CISM, CISSP-ISSAP, and GIAC. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also has top-tier support in financial management and Enterprise Resource Planning application software. This scope of skills allows Progent to identify and consolidate the undamaged pieces of your information system after a ransomware intrusion and rebuild them quickly into a functioning system. Progent has collaborated with top cyber insurance carriers including Chubb to assist businesses recover from ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware System Restoration Consulting Services in Cincinnati
For ransomware recovery expertise in the Cincinnati area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or go to Contact Progent.