Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Help from a Top-tier Ransomware Consultant
Ransomware needs time to work its way across a target network. For this reason, ransomware attacks are typically unleashed on weekends and at night, when support staff are likely to be slower to recognize a break-in and are least able to mount a rapid and forceful defense. The more lateral movement ransomware is able to manage within a target's network, the more time it takes to recover core IT services and scrambled files and the more data can be exfiltrated to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to assist you to take the urgent first step in responding to a ransomware assault by putting out the fire. Progent's online ransomware experts can assist organizations in the Milwaukee metro area to locate and isolate infected devices and protect undamaged assets from being compromised.
If your network has been breached by any strain of ransomware, don't panic. Get help quickly by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Response Expertise Offered in Milwaukee
Current strains of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, and Egregor encrypt online files and invade any accessible backups. Files synchronized to the cloud can also be impacted. For a poorly defended network, this can make automated restoration almost impossible and basically throws the IT system back to square one. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the hackers responsible for ransomware assault, insist on a settlement fee in exchange for the decryptors needed to recover encrypted data. Ransomware assaults also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") files and hackers demand an additional settlement in exchange for not publishing this information or selling it. Even if you are able to restore your network to a tolerable date in time, exfiltration can pose a major problem depending on the nature of the downloaded data.
The recovery process after a ransomware attack has a number of crucial phases, most of which can be performed concurrently if the response team has enough members with the necessary skill sets.
- Containment: This urgent initial step requires arresting the sideways spread of ransomware within your network. The more time a ransomware attack is permitted to run unchecked, the longer and more costly the recovery process. Because of this, Progent maintains a 24x7 Ransomware Hotline monitored by veteran ransomware recovery experts. Quarantine processes include cutting off infected endpoints from the rest of network to restrict the contagion, documenting the environment, and protecting entry points.
- System continuity: This involves bringing back the IT system to a basic acceptable degree of functionality with the least delay. This process is usually the top priority for the victims of the ransomware assault, who often perceive it to be a life-or-death issue for their business. This activity also demands the widest array of technical skills that span domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, PCs, notebooks and smart phones, databases, office and mission-critical applications, network topology, and safe endpoint access. Progent's ransomware recovery team uses state-of-the-art workgroup tools to coordinate the complicated restoration effort. Progent understands the importance of working quickly, tirelessly, and in concert with a client's management and IT group to prioritize activity and to get vital resources on line again as quickly as feasible.
- Data recovery: The effort necessary to restore data impacted by a ransomware assault depends on the state of the systems, the number of files that are affected, and which recovery techniques are required. Ransomware assaults can destroy critical databases which, if not gracefully shut down, may have to be reconstructed from the beginning. This can apply to DNS and Active Directory databases. Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server depend on AD, and many financial and other mission-critical applications depend on Microsoft SQL Server. Often some detective work could be needed to find undamaged data. For example, undamaged OST files may exist on employees' desktop computers and notebooks that were not connected during the ransomware attack. Progent's Altaro VM Backup experts can assist you to utilize immutable backup for cloud storage, allowing tamper-proof data while under the defined policy so that backup data cannot be modified or deleted by any user including administrators. Immutable storage provides another level of security and recoverability in the event of a successful ransomware attack.
- Implementing modern antivirus/ransomware protection: Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring uses SentinelOne's machine learning technology to give small and medium-sized companies the advantages of the same AV tools deployed by some of the world's biggest enterprises including Netflix, Visa, and Salesforce. By delivering in-line malware filtering, detection, containment, restoration and forensics in a single integrated platform, ProSight ASM reduces TCO, simplifies management, and promotes rapid recovery. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine incorporated in ProSight ASM was listed by Gartner Group as the industry's "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Find out about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiation with the threat actor (TA): Progent is experienced in negotiating settlements with hackers. This calls for close co-operation with the victim and the cyber insurance provider, if there is one. Activities include establishing the type of ransomware involved in the attack; identifying and making contact with the hacker; testing decryption capabilities; deciding on a settlement with the victim and the cyber insurance provider; establishing a settlement and schedule with the hacker; checking compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) sanctions; carrying out the crypto-currency disbursement to the hacker; acquiring, learning, and operating the decryptor utility; debugging decryption problems; building a pristine environment; mapping and reconnecting drives to match exactly their pre-attack state; and reprovisioning physical and virtual devices and services.
- Forensics: This process is aimed at discovering the ransomware assault's storyline across the network from start to finish. This history of the way a ransomware attack travelled within the network assists your IT staff to assess the damage and uncovers weaknesses in rules or processes that need to be corrected to prevent future breaches. Forensics involves the review of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object (GPO), Active Directory, DNS servers, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and basic Windows systems to detect anomalies. Forensic analysis is typically given a top priority by the insurance provider. Since forensics can be time consuming, it is vital that other important recovery processes like operational resumption are pursued concurrently. Progent has an extensive roster of IT and security professionals with the skills required to perform activities for containment, business resumption, and data recovery without interfering with forensic analysis.
Progent's Background
Progent has delivered online and onsite IT services across the U.S. for more than two decades and has earned Microsoft's Gold Partner designation in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity practice areas. Progent's roster of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes consultants who have been awarded advanced certifications in core technologies including Cisco networking, VMware virtualization, and popular Linux distros. Progent's data security consultants have earned prestigious certifications including CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, and CRISC. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also has top-tier support in financial management and ERP applications. This breadth of expertise gives Progent the ability to identify and consolidate the undamaged pieces of your IT environment after a ransomware assault and reconstruct them quickly into a viable system. Progent has worked with leading insurance providers including Chubb to help businesses clean up after ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware Cleanup Expertise in Milwaukee
For ransomware recovery consulting services in the Milwaukee area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.