Cleveland Ransomware Filtering and Cleanup Solutions

Ransomware has been weaponized by the major cyber-crime organizations and bad-actor governments, posing a potentially lethal threat to businesses that are successfully attacked. Modern versions of crypto-ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even partial recovery a complex and costly exercise. New strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, Snatch and Egregor have emerged, replacing WannaCry, Cerber, and NotPetya in notoriety, sophistication, and destructiveness.

Most ransomware penetrations are caused by innocuous-seeming emails that have malicious links or file attachments, and a high percentage are so-called "zero-day" attacks that elude detection by legacy signature-matching antivirus tools. While user education and frontline detection are critical to protect against ransomware attacks, best practices dictate that you assume some malware will inevitably succeed and that you put in place a strong backup solution that allows you to restore files and services quickly with little if any losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Checkup is an ultra-affordable service built around an online interview with a Progent security expert experienced in ransomware defense and recovery. During this assessment Progent will cooperate with your Cleveland IT management staff to collect critical information about your cybersecurity setup and backup processes. Progent will use this data to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment documenting how to adhere to leading practices for configuring and managing your cybersecurity and backup solution to block or clean up after a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report highlights vital issues associated with crypto-ransomware prevention and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Cybersecurity

• Effective allocation and use of administration accounts
• Correct NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB (Server Message Block) authorizations
• Proper firewall setup
• Secure RDP access
• Recommend AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and deployment

• Split permission model for backup integrity
• Protecting required servers including AD
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Crypto-ransomware often locks the target's computer. To prevent the damage, the target is required to pay a certain ransom, typically in the form of a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a brief period of time. It is not guaranteed that delivering the ransom will recover the damaged files or avoid its exposure to the public. Files can be altered or erased across a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the military-grade encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A common ransomware delivery package is tainted email, whereby the target is lured into interacting with by means of a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This causes the email to look as though it came from a trusted sender. Another common attack vector is an improperly protected Remote Desktop Protocol port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker opened the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by different versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, roughly doubling every other year. Notorious examples are Locky, and Petya. Recent high-profile threats like Ryuk, Maze and Spora are more sophisticated and have wreaked more damage than older strains. Even if your backup/recovery procedures permit your business to restore your encrypted files, you can still be hurt by exfiltration, where ransomed data are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional variants of ransomware crop up every day, there is no certainty that conventional signature-based anti-virus tools will detect the latest attack. If threat does appear in an email, it is important that your end users have learned to be aware of social engineering tricks. Your last line of protection is a solid process for scheduling and keeping offsite backups plus the deployment of dependable recovery platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Preparedness Consultation in Cleveland
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Assessment can bolster your protection against crypto-ransomware in Cleveland, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.