Dallas Ransomware Prevention and Removal Services

Ransomware has been widely adopted by cyber extortionists and malicious governments, representing a potentially existential risk to companies that fall victim. Modern versions of crypto-ransomware target all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial recovery a complex and costly exercise. New variations of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, Conti and Nephilim have made the headlines, replacing WannaCry, TeslaCrypt, and NotPetya in notoriety, sophistication, and destructive impact.

90% of ransomware penetrations come from innocuous-seeming emails that include dangerous links or file attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" variants that elude the defenses of legacy signature-matching antivirus (AV) tools. Although user training and frontline detection are critical to protect against ransomware, leading practices demand that you assume some malware will eventually succeed and that you put in place a strong backup solution that permits you to recover rapidly with minimal losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Assessment is a low-cost service built around a remote interview with a Progent cybersecurity expert skilled in ransomware protection and repair. In the course of this assessment Progent will cooperate directly with your Dallas IT managers to collect pertinent information concerning your security posture and backup processes. Progent will use this information to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to follow leading practices for implementing and managing your cybersecurity and backup systems to block or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment highlights vital areas associated with ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Security

• Proper use of admin accounts
• Appropriate NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) authorizations
• Optimal firewall setup
• Safe Remote Desktop Protocol connections
• Recommend AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup integrity
• Protecting critical servers such as Active Directory
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malware that encrypts or steals a victim's files so they are unusable or are publicized. Ransomware often locks the target's computer. To avoid the carnage, the victim is asked to pay a certain amount of money (the ransom), usually in the form of a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a brief period of time. It is not guaranteed that paying the ransom will recover the damaged data or prevent its publication. Files can be altered or deleted across a network based on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot solve the strong encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A common ransomware attack vector is spoofed email, whereby the user is lured into interacting with by a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This causes the email message to appear to come from a familiar source. Another common vulnerability is an improperly protected Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker ushered in the modern era of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by different versions of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every other year. Notorious examples are WannaCry, and Petya. Current headline variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and CryptoWall are more elaborate and have caused more havoc than earlier versions. Even if your backup procedures allow you to restore your ransomed files, you can still be hurt by exfiltration, where stolen data are exposed to the public. Because new variants of ransomware crop up daily, there is no certainty that conventional signature-matching anti-virus filters will block the latest malware. If an attack does show up in an email, it is important that your users have been taught to be aware of phishing techniques. Your ultimate defense is a sound scheme for performing and retaining offsite backups and the use of reliable restoration tools.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Readiness Review in Dallas
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Readiness Assessment can bolster your protection against ransomware in Dallas, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.