Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Access to a Senior Ransomware Consultant
Ransomware needs time to steal its way through a target network. For this reason, ransomware attacks are typically launched on weekends and late at night, when support personnel are likely to be slower to become aware of a break-in and are less able to mount a rapid and coordinated defense. The more lateral movement ransomware is able to achieve within a victim's network, the longer it will require to recover basic IT services and damaged files and the more information can be stolen and posted to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to assist organizations to carry out the urgent first step in responding to a ransomware attack by containing the malware. Progent's online ransomware engineers can help businesses in the Cincinnati area to identify and isolate breached devices and protect undamaged resources from being compromised.
If your network has been penetrated by any strain of ransomware, act fast. Get help quickly by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Response Services Available in Cincinnati
Modern variants of ransomware like Ryuk, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, and Nephilim encrypt online files and invade any accessible backups. Data synchronized to the cloud can also be impacted. For a vulnerable environment, this can make automated restoration nearly impossible and basically sets the datacenter back to square one. Threat Actors, the hackers responsible for ransomware assault, demand a settlement payment for the decryption tools required to unlock scrambled data. Ransomware attacks also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") files and hackers demand an additional payment in exchange for not publishing this data or selling it. Even if you can rollback your system to an acceptable point in time, exfiltration can pose a major problem depending on the sensitivity of the downloaded data.
The restoration work subsequent to ransomware penetration has several crucial phases, most of which can be performed concurrently if the recovery workgroup has a sufficient number of members with the required skill sets.
- Containment: This time-critical first response requires arresting the sideways spread of the attack across your network. The more time a ransomware assault is permitted to go unrestricted, the longer and more expensive the restoration effort. Because of this, Progent maintains a 24x7 Ransomware Hotline monitored by veteran ransomware recovery experts. Quarantine processes include isolating infected endpoints from the rest of network to minimize the contagion, documenting the IT system, and securing entry points.
- Operational continuity: This involves bringing back the network to a minimal useful level of functionality with the shortest possible delay. This process is usually the top priority for the victims of the ransomware attack, who often perceive it to be a life-or-death issue for their company. This project also requires the broadest array of IT abilities that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, desktops, notebooks and smart phones, databases, office and line-of-business applications, network architecture, and protected endpoint access management. Progent's ransomware recovery team uses advanced collaboration tools to coordinate the complex restoration process. Progent understands the importance of working rapidly, continuously, and in concert with a customer's management and IT staff to prioritize tasks and to put essential services on line again as quickly as feasible.
- Data recovery: The effort necessary to restore files damaged by a ransomware attack varies according to the state of the systems, the number of files that are encrypted, and what recovery techniques are required. Ransomware attacks can destroy critical databases which, if not properly shut down, may need to be rebuilt from the beginning. This can include DNS and AD databases. Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server depend on AD, and many ERP and other business-critical platforms depend on Microsoft SQL Server. Often some detective work may be needed to find clean data. For example, non-encrypted OST files (Outlook Email Offline Folder Files) may have survived on employees' desktop computers and notebooks that were off line during the ransomware attack. Progent's Altaro VM Backup experts can assist you to utilize immutability for cloud storage, allowing tamper-proof data for a set duration so that backup data cannot be erased or modified by anyone including root users. This provides another level of protection and restoration ability in case of a ransomware breach.
- Deploying modern AV/ransomware protection: Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring uses SentinelOne's machine learning technology to give small and mid-sized businesses the benefits of the same AV technology implemented by some of the world's biggest enterprises including Walmart, Visa, and NASDAQ. By providing real-time malware blocking, classification, mitigation, restoration and analysis in one integrated platform, ProSight Active Security Monitoring lowers TCO, simplifies management, and promotes rapid recovery. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine built into in ProSight ASM was listed by Gartner Group as the industry's "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. Learn about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiating a settlement with the hacker Progent is experienced in negotiating settlements with hackers. This requires close co-operation with the ransomware victim and the cyber insurance provider, if any. Services consist of determining the kind of ransomware involved in the attack; identifying and making contact with the hacker persona; verifying decryption tool; budgeting a settlement with the victim and the cyber insurance provider; establishing a settlement and timeline with the TA; checking adherence to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations; overseeing the crypto-currency disbursement to the hacker; acquiring, reviewing, and using the decryptor tool; troubleshooting failed files; creating a clean environment; remapping and connecting datastores to reflect precisely their pre-encryption state; and reprovisioning machines and services.
- Forensics: This process involves learning the ransomware attack's progress across the network from beginning to end. This history of how a ransomware attack travelled through the network assists your IT staff to evaluate the impact and uncovers weaknesses in security policies or processes that need to be corrected to avoid later break-ins. Forensics entails the examination of all logs, registry, GPO, Active Directory (AD), DNS, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and core Windows systems to look for anomalies. Forensic analysis is typically given a top priority by the cyber insurance provider. Because forensics can be time consuming, it is essential that other key activities like business resumption are executed concurrently. Progent has a large roster of information technology and security experts with the skills needed to carry out activities for containment, business resumption, and data restoration without interfering with forensic analysis.
Progent's Qualifications
Progent has delivered online and onsite IT services across the U.S. for over 20 years and has been awarded Microsoft's Gold Partner designation in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity practice areas. Progent's team of subject matter experts includes consultants who have earned high-level certifications in core technologies including Cisco infrastructure, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity experts have earned prestigious certifications including CISM, CISSP, and CRISC. (Refer to certifications earned by Progent consultants). Progent also has guidance in financial and Enterprise Resource Planning application software. This breadth of skills allows Progent to salvage and consolidate the surviving parts of your information system after a ransomware attack and reconstruct them quickly into an operational network. Progent has worked with leading insurance carriers like Chubb to help organizations recover from ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware System Recovery Expertise in Cincinnati
For ransomware recovery services in the Cincinnati metro area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.