Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Help from a Top-tier Ransomware Engineer
Ransomware requires time to steal its way through a network. For this reason, ransomware attacks are typically unleashed on weekends and late at night, when support personnel are likely to take longer to recognize a penetration and are least able to organize a quick and forceful response. The more lateral movement ransomware is able to make within a victim's system, the longer it will require to recover basic IT services and damaged files and the more information can be exfiltrated to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to assist organizations to carry out the time-critical first phase in mitigating a ransomware assault by putting out the fire. Progent's online ransomware engineers can assist businesses in the Fort Collins metro area to identify and isolate infected devices and guard undamaged resources from being compromised.
If your network has been breached by any strain of ransomware, act fast. Get immediate help by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Response Services Offered in Fort Collins
Modern variants of crypto-ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, DopplePaymer, and Nephilim encrypt online data and attack any available system restores and backups. Data synchronized to the cloud can also be corrupted. For a poorly defended network, this can make automated restoration almost impossible and effectively sets the IT system back to the beginning. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the cybercriminals responsible for ransomware assault, demand a settlement payment in exchange for the decryptors required to unlock scrambled data. Ransomware attacks also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") information and hackers demand an extra ransom in exchange for not publishing this information on the dark web. Even if you are able to restore your network to a tolerable date in time, exfiltration can be a big problem depending on the sensitivity of the stolen data.
The recovery process subsequent to ransomware penetration involves several distinct phases, the majority of which can be performed concurrently if the recovery workgroup has a sufficient number of members with the required experience.
- Quarantine: This urgent first response involves arresting the lateral progress of ransomware across your IT system. The longer a ransomware assault is allowed to run unchecked, the more complex and more expensive the recovery process. Recognizing this, Progent keeps a round-the-clock Ransomware Hotline staffed by seasoned ransomware recovery experts. Quarantine processes include isolating affected endpoints from the rest of network to minimize the spread, documenting the IT system, and securing entry points.
- Operational continuity: This involves restoring the network to a basic useful level of functionality with the shortest possible downtime. This effort is typically 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 demands the widest array of IT skills that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, desktops, notebooks and mobile phones, databases, office and line-of-business applications, network architecture, and secure endpoint access management. Progent's recovery team uses state-of-the-art collaboration platforms to organize the multi-faceted restoration process. Progent appreciates the importance of working rapidly, continuously, and in concert with a client's management and IT staff to prioritize tasks and to get essential resources back online as fast as feasible.
- Data restoration: The work necessary to restore data impacted by a ransomware attack depends on the state of the network, how many files are affected, and which restore techniques are needed. Ransomware assaults can destroy key databases which, if not carefully closed, may need to be reconstructed from the beginning. This can apply to DNS and AD databases. Exchange and SQL Server depend on AD, and many ERP and other mission-critical platforms are powered by Microsoft SQL Server. Often some detective work could be needed to find undamaged data. For example, undamaged OST files may exist on staff PCs and notebooks that were off line during the attack. Progent's Altaro VM Backup consultants can help you to utilize immutable backup for cloud object storage, enabling tamper-proof data while under the defined policy so that backup data cannot be modified or deleted by any user including root users. This provides an extra level of protection and recoverability in case 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 identical AV tools used by many of the world's biggest enterprises including Netflix, Citi, and Salesforce. By delivering real-time malware filtering, classification, containment, recovery and analysis in a single integrated platform, Progent's Active Security Monitoring reduces TCO, simplifies management, and promotes rapid operational continuity. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine incorporated in ProSight Active Security Monitoring was listed by Gartner Group as the industry's "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Read about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiating a settlement with the hacker Progent has experience negotiating ransom settlements with hackers. This requires working closely with the victim and the cyber insurance provider, if there is one. Services consist of determining the type of ransomware involved in the assault; identifying and making contact with the hacker; testing decryption capabilities; deciding on a settlement amount with the victim and the insurance provider; establishing a settlement amount and schedule with the TA; confirming compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) sanctions; carrying out the crypto-currency transfer to the TA; receiving, reviewing, and using the decryptor tool; debugging failed files; building a pristine environment; remapping and reconnecting datastores to match exactly their pre-attack state; and reprovisioning physical and virtual devices and services.
- Forensic analysis: This process is aimed at uncovering the ransomware attack's progress throughout the network from beginning to end. This audit trail of how a ransomware assault progressed within the network assists you to evaluate the damage and highlights shortcomings in security policies or work habits that need to be corrected to prevent future break-ins. Forensics involves the examination of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object (GPO), AD, DNS, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and core Windows systems to look for changes. Forensic analysis is commonly assigned a top priority by the insurance provider. Since forensic analysis can be time consuming, it is critical that other key recovery processes like operational continuity are executed in parallel. Progent has a large team of information technology and data security professionals with the skills required to perform activities for containment, business resumption, and data recovery without disrupting forensic analysis.
Progent's Background
Progent has provided remote and onsite IT services across the United States for over two decades and has been awarded Microsoft's Gold Partner certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's roster of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes consultants who have been awarded advanced certifications in foundation technology platforms including Cisco infrastructure, VMware virtualization, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity experts have earned internationally recognized certifications such as CISM, CISSP, and CRISC. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also has top-tier support in financial and ERP software. This breadth of expertise allows Progent to identify and integrate the surviving pieces of your network following a ransomware attack and reconstruct them rapidly into a functioning system. Progent has worked with leading cyber insurance carriers like Chubb to assist organizations clean up after ransomware assaults.
Contact Progent for Ransomware Recovery Consulting Services in Fort Collins
For ransomware system recovery expertise in the Fort Collins metro area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.