Riverside 24-7 Critical Crypto-Ransomware
Computer Virus Detection and Restoration Consulting

Ransomware : Your Worst IT Catastrophe
Crypto-Ransomware has become a modern cyber pandemic that poses an existential threat for businesses of all sizes poorly prepared for an attack. Multiple generations of ransomware such as CryptoLocker, Fusob, Bad Rabbit, Syskey and MongoLock cryptoworms have been out in the wild for a long time and continue to cause destruction. Newer variants of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Snatch or Egregor, as well as additional as yet unnamed newcomers, not only encrypt on-line data files but also infiltrate many available system backup. Information synchronized to off-site disaster recovery sites can also be held hostage. In a vulnerable environment, it can render automated recovery hopeless and effectively knocks the entire system back to square one.

Recovering applications and information following a ransomware event becomes a race against time as the targeted business fights to contain the damage, eradicate the virus, and restore business-critical activity. Because ransomware needs time to spread, assaults are often launched during nights and weekends, when successful penetrations are likely to take longer to recognize. This compounds the difficulty of quickly mobilizing and organizing a capable response team.

Progent has a variety of solutions for securing enterprises from crypto-ransomware penetrations. Among these are team member training to help identify and avoid phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, along with deployment of modern security gateways with artificial intelligence technology from SentinelOne to identify and disable day-zero threats rapidly. Progent also provides the assistance of seasoned crypto-ransomware recovery professionals with the skills and commitment to restore a breached system as urgently as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Restoration Services
After a crypto-ransomware invasion, paying the ransom in cryptocurrency does not guarantee that cyber hackers will respond with the codes to decrypt any of your files. Kaspersky determined that 17% of crypto-ransomware victims never restored their files after having sent off the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The gamble is also expensive. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom demand can reach millions. The fallback is to piece back together the critical elements of your IT environment. Without the availability of full data backups, this calls for a wide complement of IT skills, top notch team management, and the ability to work 24x7 until the recovery project is over.

For decades, Progent has offered professional IT services for businesses throughout the US and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification status in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes professionals who have attained top industry certifications in leading technologies like Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's security consultants have earned internationally-recognized certifications including CISA, CISSP, ISACA CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Visit Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has expertise in financial management and ERP software solutions. This breadth of experience provides Progent the ability to knowledgably understand necessary systems and consolidate the remaining components of your Information Technology system following a ransomware penetration and rebuild them into an operational system.

Progent's ransomware team utilizes top notch project management tools to coordinate the complex recovery process. Progent appreciates the urgency of working quickly and together with a customer's management and IT team members to prioritize tasks and to put the most important services back on line as fast as possible.

Client Case Study: A Successful Ransomware Incident Response
A small business hired Progent after their company was taken over by Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is believed to have been launched by North Korean state hackers, suspected of using technology leaked from the United States National Security Agency. Ryuk seeks specific companies with limited tolerance for disruption and is one of the most lucrative examples of ransomware. Headline organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based data warehousing and cloud computing company, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's customer is a single-location manufacturer headquartered in Chicago with about 500 staff members. The Ryuk intrusion had frozen all business operations and manufacturing capabilities. Most of the client's data protection had been on-line at the beginning of the attack and were encrypted. The client was evaluating paying the ransom (exceeding two hundred thousand dollars) and hoping for the best, but in the end engaged Progent.

Progent worked together with the client to rapidly understand and prioritize the most important services that had to be recovered in order to resume company operations:

• Windows Active Directory
• Electronic Mail
• Accounting/MRP

Within 48 hours, Progent was able to restore Active Directory services to its pre-virus state. Progent then helped perform setup and hard drive recovery on essential applications. All Exchange Server data and attributes were usable, which greatly helped the restore of Exchange. Progent was also able to assemble intact OST data files (Outlook Offline Folder Files) on team workstations and laptops in order to recover mail information. A recent offline backup of the client's accounting software made it possible to restore these required services back online. Although significant work still had to be done to recover completely from the Ryuk attack, the most important systems were recovered quickly:

Over the following month important milestones in the restoration process were achieved through tight collaboration between Progent engineers and the client:

• Internal web sites were returned to operation without losing any information.
• The MailStore Server with over 4 million historical emails was spun up and available for users.
• CRM/Orders/Invoicing/Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivables (AR)/Inventory functions were fully operational.
• A new Palo Alto Networks 850 firewall was installed.
• Ninety percent of the user PCs were operational.

Conclusion
A possible enterprise-killing catastrophe was evaded due to dedicated experts, a wide array of knowledge, and tight teamwork. Although in post mortem the crypto-ransomware penetration described here would have been identified and disabled with up-to-date security technology and recognized best practices, user training, and appropriate incident response procedures for data protection and proper patching controls, the fact remains that government-sponsored cybercriminals from China, Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are relentless and are not going away. If you do fall victim to a ransomware incursion, remember that Progent's team of experts has proven experience in ransomware virus defense, mitigation, and file recovery.

To read or download a PDF version of this ransomware incident report, click:
Progent's Ransomware Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)

Additional Ransomware Protection Services Offered by Progent
Progent can provide businesses in Riverside a range of online monitoring and security evaluation services to help you to minimize the threat from ransomware. These services utilize modern AI technology to uncover zero-day strains of crypto-ransomware that are able to escape detection by traditional signature-based security solutions.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Remote Monitoring
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop remote monitoring managed service that uses advanced remote monitoring and management techniques to help keep your network running at peak levels by checking the health of vital assets that drive your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch detects a problem, an alert is sent immediately to your specified IT personnel and your Progent engineering consultant so that any looming problems can be resolved before they can impact your network. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Unified RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Desktops
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software delivers a unified, cloud-driven platform for managing your network, server, and desktop devices by providing tools for streamlining common time-consuming jobs. These include health monitoring, patch management, automated repairs, endpoint configuration, backup and restore, A/V protection, remote access, built-in and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint status reporting, and debugging help. If ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM identifies a serious issue, it transmits an alert to your specified IT management staff and your Progent consultant so potential issues can be fixed before they interfere with productivity. Find out more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Remote Monitoring and Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is a network infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it simple and affordable for small and mid-sized organizations to map, monitor, optimize and troubleshoot their networking appliances like routers and switches, firewalls, and load balancers plus servers, client computers and other networked devices. Using cutting-edge RMM technology, ProSight WAN Watch ensures that infrastructure topology maps are always updated, captures and manages the configuration of virtually all devices connected to your network, monitors performance, and generates notices when potential issues are discovered. By automating tedious management activities, WAN Watch can cut hours off common tasks such as network mapping, reconfiguring your network, finding devices that need critical updates, or identifying the cause of performance problems. Learn more details about ProSight WAN Watch infrastructure management services.

• ProSight Reporting: In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is a growing line of real-time and in-depth reporting plug-ins created to integrate with the leading ticketing and network monitoring applications such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize key issues like inconsistent support follow-up or endpoints with missing patches. By identifying ticketing or network health problems clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves productivity, reduces management overhead, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring applications.

• ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS): Backup and Recovery Services
  Progent has worked with leading backup/restore technology providers to create ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a family of subscription-based management offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS services automate and monitor your data backup processes and enable non-disruptive backup and rapid recovery of vital files, applications, system images, plus Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. ProSight DPS helps your business avoid data loss resulting from hardware breakdown, natural disasters, fire, malware such as ransomware, user mistakes, malicious employees, or software glitches. Managed backup services available in the ProSight DPS portfolio include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight ECHO Backup using Barracuda dedicated storage, and ProSight DPS MSP360 Cloud and On-prem Backup. Your Progent consultant can help you to determine which of these managed backup services are best suited for your network.

• ProSight Email Guard: Inbound and Outbound Spam Filtering and Data Leakage Protection
  ProSight Email Guard is Progent's spam and virus filtering and email encryption service that incorporates the technology of leading data security companies to deliver centralized control and comprehensive security for your email traffic. The hybrid structure of Email Guard managed service integrates cloud-based filtering with a local security gateway device to provide advanced protection against spam, viruses, Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks, DHAs, and other email-based malware. Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer acts as a preliminary barricade and blocks the vast majority of unwanted email from making it to your security perimeter. This decreases your exposure to external threats and conserves network bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's onsite security gateway appliance adds a deeper layer of inspection for inbound email. For outbound email, the onsite gateway offers AV and anti-spam filtering, protection against data leaks, and email encryption. The onsite gateway can also help Microsoft Exchange Server to monitor and safeguard internal email traffic that stays inside your corporate firewall. For more information, visit ProSight Email Guard spam and content filtering.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: Access Security, Endpoint Remediation, and Secure Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo authentication service plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a protected online account and give your password you are requested to verify who you are via a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide selection of devices can be utilized as this added means of authentication such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. For details about Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

• Progent's Outsourced/Shared Service Center: Support Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Call Desk services allow your information technology staff to offload Call Center services to Progent or split activity for Service Desk support transparently between your in-house network support staff and Progent's nationwide pool of IT support technicians, engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Progent's Co-managed Service Desk offers a smooth supplement to your core support group. Client interaction with the Help Desk, delivery of support, problem escalation, trouble ticket generation and updates, efficiency metrics, and management of the service database are consistent whether issues are resolved by your in-house support staff, by Progent, or by a combination. Learn more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Service Center services.

• Active Defense Against Ransomware: Machine Learning-based Ransomware Detection and Remediation
  Progent's Active Protection Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that utilizes cutting edge behavior-based machine learning tools to defend endpoints as well as servers and VMs against new malware attacks like ransomware and email phishing, which routinely evade legacy signature-based anti-virus products. Progent Active Security Monitoring services protect on-premises and cloud resources and offers a single platform to address the complete malware attack lifecycle including blocking, infiltration detection, mitigation, remediation, and post-attack forensics. Top features include single-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and real-time network-wide immunization against new threats. Learn more about Progent's ransomware protection and cleanup services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  ProSight IT Asset Management service is an IT infrastructure documentation management service that allows you to capture, maintain, retrieve and protect data related to your IT infrastructure, processes, applications, and services. You can instantly locate passwords or serial numbers and be warned automatically about impending expirations of SSL certificates ,domains or warranties. By cleaning up and organizing your network documentation, you can eliminate up to half of time wasted trying to find critical information about your network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a common repository for holding and sharing all documents required for managing your network infrastructure like standard operating procedures (SOPs) and How-To's. ProSight IT Asset Management also offers a high level of automation for collecting and relating IT information. Whether you're planning enhancements, performing maintenance, or responding to an emergency, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the data you need when you need it. Read more about ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Patch Management: Software/Firmware Update Management Services
  Progent's managed services for patch management provide businesses of any size a flexible and cost-effective solution for evaluating, testing, scheduling, applying, and documenting updates to your ever-evolving IT network. In addition to optimizing the protection and functionality of your computer environment, Progent's software/firmware update management services allow your IT staff to concentrate on line-of-business projects and activities that derive the highest business value from your network. Read more about Progent's patch management support services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted Virtual Machines at Progent's Tier III Data Center
  With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small or mid-size organization can have its key servers and apps hosted in a secure fault tolerant data center on a high-performance virtual machine host configured and maintained by Progent's IT support professionals. With the ProSight Virtual Hosting model, the customer owns the data, the operating system platforms, and the apps. Because the environment is virtualized, it can be moved easily to an alternate hardware solution without requiring a lengthy and technically risky reinstallation procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not tied a single hosting provider. Find out more about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) is an endpoint protection (EPP) solution that utilizes SentinelOne's next generation behavior-based analysis technology to guard physical and virtual endpoint devices against modern malware assaults like ransomware and email phishing, which easily get by traditional signature-based AV tools. ProSight Active Security Monitoring protects on-premises and cloud-based resources and offers a single platform to automate the entire threat lifecycle including blocking, identification, mitigation, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Key features include single-click rollback with Windows VSS and automatic network-wide immunization against new attacks. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP): Physical and Virtual Endpoint Security and Exchange Email Filtering
  ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) managed services offer ultra-affordable multi-layer security for physical servers and virtual machines, workstations, mobile devices, and Microsoft Exchange. ProSight ESP utilizes adaptive security and advanced heuristics for round-the-clock monitoring and responding to security assaults from all vectors. ProSight ESP delivers two-way firewall protection, intrusion alerts, device control, and web filtering through cutting-edge technologies incorporated within one agent accessible from a unified console. Progent's security and virtualization consultants can assist your business to design and configure a ProSight ESP environment that meets your organization's unique requirements and that helps you demonstrate compliance with legal and industry data security regulations. Progent will help you specify and configure policies that ProSight ESP will manage, and Progent will monitor your network and react to alerts that require immediate attention. Progent can also help you to set up and verify a backup and disaster recovery solution like ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can recover rapidly from a potentially disastrous security attack like ransomware. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified endpoint protection and Exchange email filtering.