Downers Grove Ransomware Defense and Recovery Consulting

Ransomware has been widely adopted by the major cyber-crime organizations and malicious states, posing a possibly existential risk to companies that are successfully attacked. The latest versions of ransomware go after everything, including backup, making even selective restoration a challenging and expensive process. New strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, Conti and Egregor have emerged, replacing WannaCry, Cerber, and CryptoWall in notoriety, elaborateness, and destructive impact.

90% of ransomware penetrations come from innocuous-looking emails that have malicious hyperlinks or file attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" attacks that elude detection by legacy signature-based antivirus (AV) filters. While user training and up-front detection are critical to protect your network against ransomware attacks, best practices dictate that you assume some attacks will inevitably succeed and that you prepare a strong backup mechanism that enables you to repair the damage quickly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is a low-cost service built around a remote discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant experienced in ransomware defense and repair. During this interview Progent will cooperate directly with your Downers Grove network managers to collect critical data about your cybersecurity profile and backup processes. Progent will use this data to generate a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to adhere to leading practices for configuring and administering your security and backup systems to block or clean up after a crypto-ransomware assault.

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

Cybersecurity

• Proper use of administration accounts
• Assigning NTFS and SMB authorizations
• Optimal firewall settings
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol connections
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup protection
• Backing up key servers including AD
• Geographically dispersed backups including cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or steals a victim's files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To avoid the damage, the target is asked to send a specified amount of money, usually via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short time window. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will restore the lost files or avoid its publication. Files can be altered or erased across a network depending on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot break the strong encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A typical ransomware attack vector is tainted email, whereby the victim is tricked into interacting with by a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This causes the email to appear to come from a familiar source. Another popular attack vector is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol port.

The ransomware variant 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. Notorious examples are Locky, and Petya. Recent high-profile threats like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and Cerber are more complex and have caused more havoc than older versions. Even if your backup/recovery procedures permit your business to restore your ransomed files, you can still be threatened by so-called exfiltration, where stolen documents are exposed to the public. Because additional variants of ransomware crop up daily, there is no guarantee that traditional signature-matching anti-virus filters will detect a new malware. If an attack does appear in an email, it is important that your users have been taught to identify phishing techniques. Your ultimate protection is a sound process for scheduling and retaining remote backups and the deployment of dependable restoration tools.

Contact Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Preparedness Testing in Downers Grove
For pricing information and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Susceptibility Evaluation can bolster your protection against ransomware in Downers Grove, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.