Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Remote Access to a Top-tier Ransomware Consultant
Ransomware needs time to work its way through a network. For this reason, ransomware assaults are commonly unleashed on weekends and at night, when support personnel are likely to take longer to become aware of a break-in and are least able to mount a quick and forceful response. The more lateral progress ransomware is able to achieve inside a target's network, the more time it will require 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 designed to help you to carry out the urgent first phase in responding to a ransomware assault by stopping the bleeding. Progent's online ransomware experts can help organizations in the Allentown metro area to locate and isolate breached servers and endpoints and guard clean assets from being compromised.
If your network has been penetrated by any version of ransomware, don't panic. Get immediate help by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.
Progent's Ransomware Recovery Services Offered in Allentown
Current strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, DopplePaymer, and Egregor encrypt online data and infiltrate any available backups. Data synched to the cloud can also be impacted. For a poorly defended environment, this can make automated recovery nearly impossible and effectively knocks the datacenter back to square one. Threat Actors (TAs), the hackers responsible for ransomware assault, insist on a settlement payment in exchange for the decryption tools required to unlock encrypted data. Ransomware assaults also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") files and TAs demand an extra payment for not posting this data or selling it. Even if you are able to rollback your system to an acceptable date in time, exfiltration can pose a major issue according to the nature of the downloaded data.
The recovery work subsequent to ransomware penetration involves a number of crucial stages, the majority of which can proceed concurrently if the response workgroup has a sufficient number of people with the necessary experience.
- Containment: This time-critical first step involves blocking the lateral progress of ransomware within your IT system. The more time a ransomware attack is permitted to go unchecked, the more complex and more costly the recovery effort. Because of this, Progent maintains a 24x7 Ransomware Hotline staffed by veteran ransomware recovery engineers. Containment activities consist of cutting off infected endpoint devices from the rest of network to minimize the contagion, documenting the environment, and protecting entry points.
- System continuity: This involves restoring the IT system to a minimal acceptable degree of capability with the least downtime. This effort is typically the top priority for the targets of the ransomware assault, who often perceive it to be a life-or-death issue for their company. This activity also requires the broadest range of technical skills that span domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual machines, PCs, notebooks and smart phones, databases, office and line-of-business apps, network topology, and protected remote access management. Progent's recovery experts use state-of-the-art collaboration tools to coordinate the complicated restoration effort. Progent understands the importance of working quickly, continuously, and in concert with a client's managers and network support staff to prioritize tasks and to put vital services back online as quickly as feasible.
- Data restoration: The effort required to restore data impacted by a ransomware assault depends on the condition of the systems, the number of files that are affected, and which recovery techniques are needed. Ransomware assaults can destroy key databases which, if not gracefully closed, might need to be rebuilt from the beginning. This can apply to DNS and Active Directory (AD) databases. Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server depend on Active Directory, and many financial and other mission-critical applications are powered by Microsoft SQL Server. Often some detective work may be required to find undamaged data. For instance, non-encrypted OST files (Outlook Email Offline Folder Files) may have survived on staff PCs and notebooks that were off line during the ransomware assault. Progent's Altaro VM Backup experts can help you to utilize immutability for cloud storage, allowing tamper-proof data for a set duration so that backup data cannot be modified or deleted by anyone including administrators. Immutable storage provides another level of security and recoverability in the event of a ransomware breach.
- Implementing advanced AV/ransomware protection: Progent's Active Security Monitoring uses SentinelOne's behavioral analysis technology to offer small and medium-sized businesses the advantages of the same anti-virus tools deployed by many of the world's biggest corporations such as Walmart, Citi, and Salesforce. By providing in-line malware filtering, identification, mitigation, repair and forensics in one integrated platform, Progent's ASM cuts total cost of ownership, streamlines management, and expedites resumption of operations. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection (NGEP) built into in ProSight ASM was listed by Gartner Group as the industry's "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. Read about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) 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 insurance carrier, if any. Activities include establishing the kind of ransomware involved in the assault; identifying and establishing communications the hacker persona; testing decryption capabilities; budgeting a settlement with the ransomware victim and the insurance provider; negotiating a settlement amount and timeline with the hacker; confirming compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) sanctions; overseeing the crypto-currency transfer to the TA; receiving, learning, and operating the decryptor utility; troubleshooting decryption problems; building a clean environment; remapping and connecting datastores to match precisely their pre-encryption condition; and restoring machines and software services.
- Forensic analysis: This activity involves learning the ransomware assault's progress across the targeted network from start to finish. This history of how a ransomware attack travelled through the network helps your IT staff to evaluate the impact and highlights gaps in rules or work habits that should be rectified to prevent future break-ins. Forensics entails the examination of all logs, registry, Group Policy Object, Active Directory (AD), DNS, routers, firewalls, scheduled tasks, and basic Windows systems to check for variations. Forensics is commonly assigned a high priority by the insurance carrier. Because forensics can take time, it is vital that other important activities such as business resumption are performed in parallel. Progent maintains a large roster of IT and data security experts with the knowledge and experience required to carry out the work of containment, operational continuity, and data recovery without interfering with forensics.
Progent's Qualifications
Progent has provided online and onsite IT services throughout the United States for more than 20 years and has earned Microsoft's Gold Partner certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of SMEs includes professionals who have earned advanced certifications in core technology platforms such as Cisco networking, VMware virtualization, and popular Linux distros. Progent's data security experts have earned internationally recognized certifications such as CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, and GIAC. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent also has guidance in financial management and ERP software. This scope of expertise gives Progent the ability to salvage and integrate the surviving pieces of your IT environment following a ransomware assault and reconstruct them rapidly into a viable system. Progent has collaborated with leading cyber insurance providers including Chubb to help organizations clean up after ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware Cleanup Expertise in Allentown
For ransomware cleanup expertise in the Allentown area, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.