Des Moines Ransomware Prevention and Remediation Solutions

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for cybercriminals and rogue governments, representing a possibly lethal risk to businesses that are successfully attacked. The latest strains of crypto-ransomware go after everything, including backup, making even partial restoration a complex and costly process. New strains of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, LockBit and Nephilim have made the headlines, displacing WannaCry, Cerber, and Petya in prominence, elaborateness, and destructiveness.

90% of crypto-ransomware penetrations come from innocuous-looking emails with dangerous links or attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" attacks that elude the defenses of legacy signature-based antivirus (AV) filters. Although user training and frontline detection are important to defend your network against ransomware attacks, leading practices demand that you take for granted some attacks will inevitably get through and that you prepare a solid backup mechanism that permits you to recover quickly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is an ultra-affordable service built around an online discussion with a Progent security expert experienced in ransomware defense and repair. In the course of this assessment Progent will cooperate with your Des Moines network managers to gather pertinent data about your security setup and backup environment. Progent will utilize this information to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Report detailing how to follow leading practices for implementing and managing your cybersecurity and backup systems to block or clean up after a crypto-ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report focuses on key areas related to ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The report addresses:

Security

• Effective use of admin accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB (Server Message Block) permissions
• Proper firewall settings
• Safe RDP access
• Recommend AntiVirus tools identification and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Protecting required servers such as AD
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malware that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they are unusable or are publicized. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the victim is asked to send a specified amount of money, typically via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short time window. There is no guarantee that delivering the extortion price will recover the damaged data or prevent its exposure to the public. Files can be altered or erased throughout a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the strong encryption technologies used on the compromised files. A common ransomware delivery package is spoofed email, in which the victim is lured into responding to by means of a social engineering exploit called spear phishing. This causes the email message to appear to come from a trusted source. Another popular attack vector is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the modern era of ransomware in 2013, and the damage caused by the many strains of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, roughly doubling every two years. Famous attacks include Locky, and NotPetya. Current high-profile variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and CryptoWall are more sophisticated and have caused more havoc than older versions. Even if your backup procedures enable you to recover your ransomed files, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where ransomed documents are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional versions of ransomware crop up every day, there is no certainty that conventional signature-matching anti-virus filters will block the latest malware. If threat does appear in an email, it is important that your end users have learned to identify phishing tricks. Your ultimate defense is a solid process for scheduling and keeping offsite backups plus the use of reliable recovery tools.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report in Des Moines
For pricing information and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Readiness Evaluation can enhance your defense against ransomware in Des Moines, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.