Hartford Ransomware Prevention and Recovery Expertise

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for cybercriminals and bad-actor governments, representing a possibly lethal risk to businesses that are breached. Modern versions of crypto-ransomware target all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even partial restoration a long and costly exercise. Novel versions of crypto-ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, Conti and Nephilim have made the headlines, displacing WannaCry, Cerber, and NotPetya in prominence, sophistication, and destructive impact.

Most crypto-ransomware penetrations come from innocent-looking emails that include malicious links or attachments, and a high percentage are "zero-day" attacks that can escape detection by traditional signature-based antivirus tools. Although user education and frontline identification are important to defend against ransomware attacks, leading practices dictate that you assume some attacks will eventually get through and that you deploy a solid backup mechanism that allows you to repair the damage quickly with little if any losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Checkup is an ultra-affordable service built around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity expert skilled in ransomware protection and repair. In the course of this assessment Progent will work with your Hartford network managers to gather critical data about your cybersecurity profile and backup processes. Progent will use this data to generate a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment documenting how to apply leading practices for configuring and administering your security and backup solution to block or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report highlights vital areas related to ransomware prevention and restoration recovery. The report addresses:

Security

• Effective use of admin accounts
• Appropriate NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) permissions
• Optimal firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) configuration
• Guidance for AntiVirus (AV) filtering selection and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Backing up required servers including Active Directory
• 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 cannot be used or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the target is asked to send a certain amount of money, typically via a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a brief period of time. It is never certain that delivering the extortion price will restore the lost data or prevent its publication. Files can be altered or deleted across a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot reverse engineer the military-grade encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A typical ransomware attack vector is tainted email, whereby the victim is tricked into interacting with by means of a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This causes the email to appear to come from a familiar source. Another common vulnerability is a poorly protected RDP port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker opened the modern era of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by the many strains of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every two years. Notorious examples include WannaCry, and NotPetya. Recent headline threats like Ryuk, Sodinokibi and Spora are more sophisticated and have caused more damage than older versions. Even if your backup procedures allow you to restore your ransomed data, you can still be threatened by so-called exfiltration, where stolen documents are exposed to the public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional versions of ransomware crop up every day, there is no guarantee that traditional signature-matching anti-virus filters will detect the latest malware. If threat does appear in an email, it is important that your end users have learned to identify social engineering tricks. Your last line of protection is a sound process for performing and keeping remote backups and the use of dependable restoration platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Vulnerability Evaluation in Hartford
For pricing details and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Consultation can bolster your protection against ransomware in Hartford, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.