Durham Ransomware Prevention and Recovery Consulting

Ransomware has been weaponized by cybercriminals and malicious governments, representing a potentially existential threat to companies that are successfully attacked. Modern variations of crypto-ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even selective restoration a challenging and expensive process. Novel versions of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, DopplePaymer, LockBit and Nephilim have emerged, replacing Locky, TeslaCrypt, and CryptoWall in notoriety, elaborateness, and destructive impact.

90% of ransomware breaches come from innocuous-seeming emails with malicious hyperlinks or file attachments, and a high percentage are so-called "zero-day" variants that elude the defenses of traditional signature-matching antivirus (AV) tools. Although user education and frontline detection are critical to defend against ransomware, best practices dictate that you assume some attacks will eventually get through and that you prepare a solid backup solution that permits you to recover quickly with little if any losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Report is a low-cost service built around a remote discussion with a Progent cybersecurity expert experienced in ransomware protection and repair. During this interview Progent will work directly with your Durham network management staff to gather critical information about your cybersecurity posture and backup environment. Progent will use this data to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Report detailing how to follow leading practices for configuring and managing your security and backup systems to block or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment focuses on key issues associated with ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review addresses:

Security

• Effective allocation and use of admin accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB (Server Message Block) authorizations
• Proper firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol access
• Guidance for AntiVirus filtering selection and deployment

• Split permission model for backup protection
• Protecting critical servers including AD
• Offsite backups with cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or steals files so they are unusable or are made publicly available. Ransomware often locks the target's computer. To prevent the carnage, the target is asked to pay a specified amount of money, typically in the form of a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short period of time. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will recover the lost data or prevent its publication. Files can be encrypted or deleted across a network depending on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the military-grade encryption technologies used on the compromised files. A common ransomware delivery package is booby-trapped email, in which the target is lured into interacting with by means of a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This makes the email to look as though it came from a trusted source. Another common vulnerability is an improperly secured Remote Desktop Protocol port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the damage caused by different versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, more than doubling every other year. Famous examples include Locky, and NotPetya. Recent high-profile threats like Ryuk, Maze and Spora are more elaborate and have wreaked more havoc than older strains. Even if your backup/recovery processes enable you to restore your ransomed data, you can still be threatened by so-called exfiltration, where ransomed data are made public. Because additional variants of ransomware are launched every day, there is no certainty that conventional signature-matching anti-virus filters will detect a new attack. If an attack does show up in an email, it is important that your users have learned to be aware of phishing techniques. Your ultimate protection is a sound process for performing and retaining remote backups plus the use of dependable recovery platforms.

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