Dayton Ransomware Defense and Remediation Services

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for cyber extortionists and malicious states, representing a possibly existential threat to companies that are breached. Current strains of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even selective restoration a long and expensive process. New versions of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, LockBit and Nephilim have made the headlines, replacing WannaCry, Cerber, and Petya in notoriety, elaborateness, and destructiveness.

Most ransomware penetrations come from innocuous-looking emails with malicious hyperlinks or file attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" variants that can escape the defenses of traditional signature-matching antivirus (AV) filters. Although user education and up-front identification are important to defend your network against ransomware, best practices demand that you assume some malware will inevitably get through and that you prepare a solid backup mechanism that permits you to restore files and services rapidly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Checkup is an ultra-affordable service centered around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant experienced in ransomware protection and recovery. In the course of this assessment Progent will cooperate with your Dayton IT managers to gather pertinent data about your security setup and backup environment. Progent will use this information to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Report detailing how to follow best practices for implementing and managing your cybersecurity and backup systems to block or recover from a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment highlights vital areas associated with crypto-ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review addresses:

Security

• Correct use of admin accounts
• Assigning NTFS and SMB authorizations
• Optimal firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access
• Recommend AntiVirus (AV) tools identification and configuration

• Split permission model for backup integrity
• Backing up key servers such as Active Directory
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malicious software that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Ransomware sometimes locks the target's computer. To prevent the carnage, the target is asked to pay a specified ransom, usually via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a brief period of time. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will restore the lost files or prevent its exposure to the public. Files can be encrypted or erased across a network depending on the target's write permissions, and you cannot reverse engineer the strong encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A typical ransomware attack vector is booby-trapped email, in which the victim is lured into interacting with by a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This causes the email to appear to come from a trusted sender. Another popular attack vector is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the modern era of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses attributed to by the many strains of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every other year. Famous examples are WannaCry, and Petya. Current high-profile variants like Ryuk, Maze and Spora are more elaborate and have wreaked more damage than older versions. Even if your backup/recovery procedures permit you to restore your encrypted files, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where ransomed documents are exposed to the public. Because additional variants of ransomware crop up every day, there is no guarantee that conventional signature-matching anti-virus filters will block a new attack. If an attack does appear in an email, it is important that your users have learned to identify phishing tricks. Your last line of protection is a sound scheme for performing and keeping offsite backups plus the deployment of reliable restoration platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Readiness Assessment in Dayton
For pricing information and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Susceptibility Audit can bolster your defense against crypto-ransomware in Dayton, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.