Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800
24x7 Online Help from a Top-tier Ransomware Consultant
Ransomware requires time to steal its way across a target network. For this reason, ransomware assaults are commonly unleashed on weekends and late at night, when IT staff are likely to take longer to recognize a penetration and are least able to mount a rapid and coordinated response. The more lateral movement ransomware is able to make inside a target's network, the more time it takes to recover core IT services and scrambled files and the more information can be exfiltrated to the dark web.
Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to help you to complete the urgent first phase in responding to a ransomware attack by putting out the fire. Progent's online ransomware engineers can help organizations in the Baltimore area to identify and quarantine infected devices and protect clean assets from being penetrated.
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 Baltimore
Modern strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Netwalker, and Nephilim encrypt online files and attack any available backups. Data synched to the cloud can also be corrupted. For a poorly defended network, this can make system recovery almost impossible and effectively throws the datacenter back to the beginning. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the cybercriminals behind a ransomware attack, insist on a ransom fee in exchange for the decryption tools required to recover encrypted files. Ransomware attacks also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") information and TAs require an extra payment in exchange for not publishing this data on the dark web. Even if you can restore your system to an acceptable date in time, exfiltration can be a big problem according to the sensitivity of the stolen information.
The recovery process subsequent to ransomware penetration has a number of distinct stages, the majority of which can proceed concurrently if the response workgroup has a sufficient number of members with the required experience.
- Containment: This urgent initial response requires arresting the lateral spread of ransomware across your IT system. The more time a ransomware attack is allowed to go unchecked, the longer and more costly the recovery process. Because of this, Progent maintains a 24x7 Ransomware Hotline monitored by seasoned ransomware recovery experts. Containment processes include cutting off infected endpoint devices from the network to restrict the contagion, documenting the environment, and protecting entry points.
- Operational continuity: This covers bringing back the IT system to a minimal acceptable level of capability with the least downtime. This process is typically at the highest level of urgency for the targets of the ransomware attack, who often perceive it to be an existential issue for their business. This project also demands the widest range of IT abilities that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, desktops, notebooks and mobile phones, databases, productivity and mission-critical applications, network topology, and secure endpoint access. Progent's recovery experts use state-of-the-art workgroup platforms to organize the complex recovery process. Progent understands the importance of working rapidly, continuously, and in concert with a customer's management and network support staff to prioritize tasks and to put essential resources back online as fast as possible.
- Data restoration: The work necessary to restore files damaged by a ransomware attack depends on the condition of the network, the number of files that are encrypted, and which restore methods are required. Ransomware assaults can destroy pivotal databases which, if not properly shut down, might have to be rebuilt from the beginning. This can apply to DNS and AD databases. Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server rely on AD, and many ERP and other business-critical platforms are powered by SQL Server. Some detective work may be required to find clean data. For example, non-encrypted OST files may exist on employees' PCs and notebooks that were off line at the time of the ransomware attack. Progent's Altaro VM Backup experts can assist you to utilize immutability for cloud object storage, allowing tamper-proof data for a set duration so that backup data cannot be modified or deleted by anyone including administrators or root users. Immutable storage provides another level of security and restoration ability in the event of a ransomware breach.
- Setting up modern AV/ransomware protection: Progent's Active Security Monitoring incorporates SentinelOne's behavioral analysis technology to offer small and mid-sized businesses the benefits of the identical anti-virus tools used by many of the world's biggest corporations such as Walmart, Citi, and Salesforce. By providing in-line malware blocking, classification, containment, repair and forensics in a single integrated platform, ProSight Active Security Monitoring reduces total cost of ownership, simplifies administration, and expedites resumption of operations. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine incorporated in Progent's Active Security Monitoring 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 next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware recovery with SentinelOne technology.
- Negotiating a settlement with the threat actor (TA): Progent has experience negotiating ransom settlements with hackers. This calls for working closely with the ransomware victim and the cyber insurance carrier, if there is one. Activities include determining the type of ransomware involved in the assault; identifying and making contact with the hacker; testing decryption capabilities; budgeting a settlement with the ransomware victim and the insurance provider; establishing a settlement amount and schedule with the TA; checking adherence to anti-money laundering regulations; carrying out the crypto-currency disbursement to the TA; receiving, learning, and operating the decryption tool; debugging decryption problems; creating a pristine environment; mapping and reconnecting datastores to match precisely their pre-encryption condition; and reprovisioning machines and services.
- Forensics: This activity is aimed at uncovering the ransomware attack's storyline throughout the targeted network from beginning to end. This audit trail of the way a ransomware assault travelled within the network helps you to assess the impact and uncovers gaps in rules or work habits that should be corrected to prevent future breaches. Forensics entails the examination of all logs, registry, GPO, Active Directory, DNS servers, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and basic Windows systems to look for changes. Forensic analysis is commonly given a high priority by the cyber insurance carrier. Since forensics can be time consuming, it is vital that other important recovery processes such as operational resumption are performed concurrently. Progent has an extensive team of information technology and cybersecurity professionals with the knowledge and experience required to perform activities for containment, business continuity, and data recovery without disrupting forensic analysis.
Progent's Background
Progent has delivered remote and on-premises network services throughout the United States for more than 20 years and has been awarded Microsoft's Gold Partner designation in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's roster of SMEs includes professionals who have been awarded high-level certifications in core technologies such as Cisco networking, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity experts have earned industry-recognized certifications such as CISM, CISSP, and CRISC. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also offers top-tier support in financial management and Enterprise Resource Planning software. This breadth of expertise gives Progent the ability to identify and consolidate the surviving parts of your IT environment after a ransomware intrusion and reconstruct them quickly into an operational system. Progent has worked with top cyber insurance carriers like Chubb to help organizations recover from ransomware attacks.
Contact Progent for Ransomware Recovery Consulting in Baltimore
For ransomware recovery consulting in the Baltimore area, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.