Birmingham Ransomware Filtering and Remediation Consulting

Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800

24x7 Remote Help from a Senior Ransomware Consultant
Ransomware needs time to steal its way across a target network. Because of this, ransomware assaults are typically unleashed on weekends and late at night, when support staff are likely to take longer to recognize a breach and are least able to mount a rapid and forceful response. The more lateral progress ransomware is able to manage inside a victim's network, the longer it will require to recover basic operations and damaged files and the more data can be exfiltrated to the dark web.

Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to help you to take the time-critical first phase in mitigating a ransomware attack by putting out the fire. Progent's remote ransomware engineers can assist organizations in the Birmingham area to locate and quarantine infected devices and protect undamaged resources from being compromised.

If your system has been breached 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 Response Expertise Available in Birmingham
Modern variants of ransomware such as Ryuk, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, and Egregor encrypt online data and infiltrate any available backups. Data synched to the cloud can also be impacted. For a vulnerable network, this can make automated restoration nearly impossible and effectively sets the IT system back to square one. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the hackers responsible for ransomware assault, insist on a settlement fee for the decryptors needed to recover encrypted data. Ransomware attacks also attempt to steal (or "exfiltrate") files and hackers demand an extra ransom in exchange for not publishing this information on the dark web. Even if you can rollback your system to an acceptable point in time, exfiltration can pose a major problem according to the nature of the stolen data.

The restoration work after a ransomware penetration involves several distinct phases, the majority of which can be performed concurrently if the recovery team has a sufficient number of members with the required experience.

• Quarantine: This urgent first response involves blocking the lateral spread of ransomware within your IT system. The more time a ransomware assault is permitted to go unrestricted, the longer and more costly the recovery process. Recognizing this, Progent keeps a round-the-clock Ransomware Hotline monitored by veteran ransomware recovery engineers. Containment processes include cutting off affected endpoint devices from the network to restrict the spread, documenting the environment, and securing entry points.
• System continuity: This covers bringing back the IT system to a basic useful level of functionality with the shortest possible downtime. This effort is usually the highest priority for the victims of the ransomware assault, who often see it as a life-or-death issue for their company. This project also demands the widest range of technical abilities that cover domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual machines, desktops, notebooks and mobile phones, databases, productivity and line-of-business apps, network architecture, and protected remote access. Progent's recovery experts use state-of-the-art workgroup tools to organize the complicated restoration effort. Progent understands the importance of working rapidly, continuously, and in concert with a client's management and IT group to prioritize activity and to get vital resources back online as quickly as feasible.
• Data recovery: The work required to restore data impacted by a ransomware attack depends on the condition of the systems, how many files are affected, and which restore techniques are required. Ransomware assaults can take down critical databases which, if not carefully closed, may have to be rebuilt from the beginning. This can apply to DNS and Active Directory databases. Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server rely on Active Directory, and many manufacturing and other business-critical applications depend on Microsoft SQL Server. Often some detective work may be needed to find undamaged data. For example, undamaged Outlook Email Offline Folder Files may have survived on staff PCs and notebooks that were off line during the ransomware assault. Progent's ProSight Data Protection Services offer Altaro VM Backup technology to protect against ransomware via Immutable Cloud Storage. This creates tamper-proof data that cannot be modified by anyone including administrators.
• Deploying modern antivirus/ransomware protection: Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring utilizes SentinelOne's machine learning technology to give small and mid-sized businesses the advantages of the same anti-virus tools used by some of the world's largest corporations such as Walmart, Citi, and NASDAQ. By providing real-time malware blocking, classification, mitigation, recovery and forensics in a single integrated platform, ProSight Active Security Monitoring lowers TCO, streamlines administration, and expedites recovery. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection (NGEP) incorporated in ProSight Active Security Monitoring 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 next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense with SentinelOne technology.
• Negotiation with the threat actor (TA): Progent is experienced in negotiating settlements with hackers. This requires working closely with the ransomware victim and the insurance provider, if there is one. Activities include establishing the kind of ransomware used in the attack; identifying and making contact with the hacker; testing decryption tool; budgeting a settlement with the ransomware victim and the insurance provider; negotiating a settlement amount and schedule with the hacker; checking adherence to anti-money laundering regulations; overseeing the crypto-currency transfer to the TA; acquiring, reviewing, and using the decryption utility; debugging failed files; building a pristine environment; remapping and connecting datastores to reflect exactly their pre-encryption state; and restoring computers and services.
• Forensic analysis: This activity is aimed at uncovering the ransomware attack's storyline throughout the targeted network from beginning to end. This audit trail of how a ransomware assault travelled within the network assists you to evaluate the impact and highlights shortcomings in policies or processes that should be corrected to avoid future break-ins. Forensics entails the review of all logs, registry, GPO, Active Directory (AD), DNS servers, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and basic Windows systems to check for changes. Forensics is usually assigned a high priority by the cyber insurance carrier. Because forensics can be time consuming, it is critical that other important activities like operational continuity are performed concurrently. Progent maintains an extensive roster of information technology and data security experts with the skills needed to perform the work of containment, operational resumption, and data restoration without disrupting forensic analysis.

Contact Progent for Ransomware System Restoration Expertise in Birmingham
For ransomware system recovery expertise in the Birmingham area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.