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Ransomware : Your Feared IT Nightmare
Crypto-Ransomware has become a modern cyber pandemic that represents an enterprise-level danger for businesses unprepared for an attack. Versions of crypto-ransomware like the Reveton, CryptoWall, Bad Rabbit, NotPetya and MongoLock cryptoworms have been running rampant for a long time and still cause destruction. More recent strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Conti or Nephilim, along with frequent unnamed viruses, not only do encryption of online data but also infect all configured system backups. Data synchronized to the cloud can also be encrypted. In a poorly designed system, it can make any recovery hopeless and effectively knocks the network back to zero.

Getting back services and information following a ransomware intrusion becomes a sprint against time as the victim struggles to contain, cleanup the virus, and resume mission-critical operations. Due to the fact that ransomware requires time to replicate, penetrations are often sprung at night, when successful attacks may take more time to detect. This compounds the difficulty of quickly assembling and coordinating a capable mitigation team.

Progent offers a variety of services for securing businesses from ransomware attacks. Among these are team education to help identify and not fall victim to phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for remote monitoring and management, plus installation of the latest generation security appliances with artificial intelligence capabilities from SentinelOne to discover and suppress day-zero cyber threats rapidly. Progent also offers the services of experienced crypto-ransomware recovery engineers with the talent and commitment to reconstruct a breached system as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Restoration Support Services
Following a crypto-ransomware attack, sending the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not ensure that cyber criminals will respond with the needed codes to unencrypt all your files. Kaspersky Labs determined that seventeen percent of ransomware victims never restored their files after having sent off the ransom, resulting in increased losses. The gamble is also expensive. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can be in the millions. The fallback is to piece back together the vital components of your Information Technology environment. Absent the availability of full system backups, this requires a wide complement of skills, professional project management, and the capability to work 24x7 until the job is completed.

For two decades, Progent has offered professional Information Technology services for businesses throughout the US and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification status in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's group of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes professionals who have attained top certifications in key technologies like Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity specialists have earned internationally-renowned industry certifications including CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, ISACA CRISC, SANS GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Visit Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has experience with accounting and ERP application software. This breadth of expertise affords Progent the capability to quickly determine critical systems and integrate the remaining parts of your network system following a ransomware event and rebuild them into an operational system.

Progent's security team of experts uses powerful project management systems to orchestrate the sophisticated restoration process. Progent appreciates the urgency of acting swiftly and together with a client's management and Information Technology resources to assign priority to tasks and to get the most important services back on line as fast as possible.

Business Case Study: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Virus Response
A small business contacted Progent after their organization was brought down by Ryuk crypto-ransomware. Ryuk is generally considered to have been created by Northern Korean state sponsored cybercriminals, suspected of using algorithms leaked from the United States NSA organization. Ryuk goes after specific businesses with little ability to sustain disruption and is among the most lucrative versions of crypto-ransomware. High publicized victims include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing business, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's customer is a regional manufacturing company based in the Chicago metro area with about 500 staff members. The Ryuk penetration had paralyzed all company operations and manufacturing processes. Most of the client's information backups had been on-line at the time of the attack and were eventually encrypted. The client was evaluating paying the ransom (more than $200,000) and wishfully thinking for the best, but ultimately made the decision to use Progent.

Progent worked with the customer to rapidly get our arms around and assign priority to the most important applications that needed to be restored to make it possible to restart company functions:

• Microsoft Active Directory
• E-Mail
• Accounting/MRP

In less than 2 days, Progent was able to rebuild Active Directory to its pre-virus state. Progent then charged ahead with rebuilding and storage recovery of the most important applications. All Exchange Server schema and configuration information were usable, which accelerated the restore of Exchange. Progent was able to find non-encrypted OST files (Outlook Email Offline Data Files) on various workstations and laptops in order to recover email messages. A not too old off-line backup of the client's financials/MRP software made them able to recover these vital services back online for users. Although significant work still had to be done to recover completely from the Ryuk damage, core services were restored quickly:

Throughout the next couple of weeks important milestones in the recovery process were achieved through tight cooperation between Progent consultants and the customer:

• Internal web sites were brought back up with no loss of data.
• The MailStore Microsoft Exchange Server with over four million historical messages was spun up and available for users.
• CRM/Orders/Invoices/Accounts Payable (AP)/AR/Inventory functions were fully functional.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was set up and programmed.
• Nearly all of the user desktops were being used by staff.

Conclusion
A probable business-ending disaster was dodged by hard-working professionals, a broad spectrum of subject matter expertise, and tight teamwork. Although in analyzing the event afterwards the ransomware incident described here could have been shut down with modern security systems and best practices, team training, and well designed incident response procedures for information backup and proper patching controls, the fact remains that government-sponsored cyber criminals from China, Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and represent an ongoing threat. If you do fall victim to a ransomware attack, feel confident that Progent's roster of professionals has extensive experience in crypto-ransomware virus blocking, removal, and information systems recovery.

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

Additional Crypto-Ransomware Protection Services Offered by Progent
Progent offers businesses in Dayton a range of online monitoring and security assessment services to assist you to minimize your vulnerability to crypto-ransomware. These services incorporate modern machine learning technology to uncover zero-day variants of ransomware that are able to escape detection by legacy signature-based security products.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Remote Monitoring and Management
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop monitoring service that uses state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management technology to help keep your IT system running at peak levels by tracking the state of vital computers that power your information system. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers an issue, an alarm is sent automatically to your specified IT management staff and your Progent consultant so all looming problems can be addressed before they can impact productivity. Learn more 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 offers a unified, cloud-driven solution for monitoring and managing your network, server, and desktop devices by providing an environment for streamlining common time-consuming tasks. These can include health checking, update management, automated repairs, endpoint configuration, backup and recovery, anti-virus response, secure remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint status reports, and troubleshooting assistance. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM uncovers a serious incident, it transmits an alert to your specified IT management staff and your assigned Progent consultant so that potential issues can be taken care of before they impact productivity. Find out more details 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 an infrastructure management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for smaller businesses to map, track, reconfigure and troubleshoot their connectivity hardware like switches, firewalls, and wireless controllers as well as servers, client computers and other devices. Incorporating cutting-edge Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) technology, WAN Watch makes sure that infrastructure topology diagrams are always updated, copies and displays the configuration of almost all devices connected to your network, monitors performance, and generates alerts when issues are discovered. By automating time-consuming network management activities, ProSight WAN Watch can knock hours off ordinary tasks like making network diagrams, reconfiguring your network, locating devices that require important software patches, or identifying the cause of performance issues. Find out more details about ProSight WAN Watch infrastructure monitoring and management services.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Platforms
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding family of in-depth reporting utilities designed to integrate with the top ticketing and remote network monitoring applications such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting incorporates Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize key issues like inconsistent support follow-up or endpoints with out-of-date AVs. By exposing ticketing or network health concerns clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves productivity, lowers management overhead, and saves money. For more information, see ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring applications.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Backup and Disaster Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with advanced backup technology providers to create ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a family of subscription-based management outsourcing plans that deliver backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS products automate and track your backup processes and allow transparent backup and fast restoration of vital files/folders, apps, images, plus Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. ProSight DPS helps you protect against data loss caused by equipment failures, natural calamities, fire, malware such as ransomware, user error, malicious insiders, or application glitches. Managed services available in the ProSight Data Protection Services product line include ProSight Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight ECHO Backup based on Barracuda dedicated hardware, and ProSight DPS MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent expert can help you to determine which of these fully 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 uses the technology of top information security vendors to deliver centralized control and world-class security for all your email traffic. The powerful structure of Progent's Email Guard managed service integrates cloud-based filtering with an on-premises security gateway device to provide advanced defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, DHAs, and other email-based threats. The cloud filter serves as a preliminary barricade and keeps the vast majority of threats from making it to your security perimeter. This reduces your vulnerability to inbound threats and saves network bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's on-premises gateway device provides a deeper level of analysis for incoming email. For outgoing email, the local gateway provides AV and anti-spam protection, protection against data leaks, and email encryption. The onsite security gateway can also help Exchange Server to monitor and protect internal email that stays inside your security perimeter. For more information, visit ProSight Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: Access Security, Endpoint Policy Enforcement, and Secure Single Sign-on
  Progent's Duo MFA managed services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity verification with iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you log into a protected online account and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A broad selection of devices can be used as this second form of authentication including a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services.

• Outsourced/Co-managed Call Desk: Help Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Help Desk services enable your IT staff to offload Call Center services to Progent or split responsibilities for Help Desk services transparently between your in-house support resources and Progent's extensive roster of certified IT service engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Shared Help Desk Service provides a seamless extension of your in-house network support staff. End user interaction with the Service Desk, delivery of support, escalation, ticket generation and tracking, efficiency metrics, and management of the support database are consistent regardless of whether issues are resolved by your corporate IT support group, by Progent, or both. Learn more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Call Center services.

• Progent Active Defense Against Ransomware: Machine Learning-based Ransomware Identification and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Protection Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection service that incorporates cutting edge behavior-based machine learning tools to guard endpoint devices and servers and VMs against modern malware attacks like ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily evade legacy signature-based anti-virus tools. Progent ASM services protect local and cloud-based resources and offers a unified platform to address the entire malware attack lifecycle including filtering, identification, containment, remediation, and post-attack forensics. Key features include one-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and real-time network-wide immunization against new attacks. Find out more about Progent's ransomware protection and recovery services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  ProSight IT Asset Management service is a cloud-based IT documentation management service that makes it easy to capture, update, find and safeguard information related to your network infrastructure, processes, business apps, and services. You can quickly locate passwords or IP addresses and be alerted automatically about impending expirations of SSLs ,domains or warranties. By cleaning up and organizing your network documentation, you can eliminate up to half of time spent looking for critical information about your network. ProSight IT Asset Management includes a common location for storing and collaborating on all documents required for managing your network infrastructure like recommended procedures and How-To's. ProSight IT Asset Management also supports a high level of automation for gathering and relating IT data. Whether you're making enhancements, performing maintenance, or responding to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the information you require when you need it. Learn more about Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's support services for software and firmware patch management provide organizations of all sizes a flexible and cost-effective solution for evaluating, testing, scheduling, implementing, and tracking updates to your ever-evolving information network. In addition to maximizing the security and reliability of your IT environment, Progent's patch management services permit your in-house IT team to focus on line-of-business projects and tasks that deliver maximum business value from your information network. Read more about Progent's software/firmware update management services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted Virtual Machines at Progent's World-class Data Center
  With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small or mid-size organization can have its critical servers and apps hosted in a protected fault tolerant data center on a high-performance virtual host set up and maintained by Progent's network support experts. Under the ProSight Virtual Hosting service model, the customer owns the data, the operating system software, and the applications. Because the environment is virtualized, it can be ported immediately to an alternate hosting solution without requiring a lengthy and technically risky configuration procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, your business is not tied a single hosting service. Learn more about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection solution that incorporates SentinelOne's next generation behavior-based machine learning tools to defend physical and virtual endpoints against modern malware assaults like ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily escape legacy signature-matching AV tools. ProSight ASM safeguards on-premises and cloud-based resources and provides a unified platform to address the entire malware attack progression including blocking, infiltration detection, containment, remediation, and post-attack forensics. Key features include single-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and automatic network-wide immunization against newly discovered attacks. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware recovery.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP): Physical and Virtual Endpoint Security and Microsoft Exchange Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection services deliver ultra-affordable in-depth protection for physical servers and virtual machines, workstations, mobile devices, and Exchange email. ProSight ESP utilizes contextual security and modern behavior analysis for continuously monitoring and responding to security threats from all vectors. ProSight ESP provides two-way firewall protection, intrusion alerts, device control, and web filtering via leading-edge technologies packaged within a single agent accessible from a single control. Progent's data protection and virtualization experts can assist your business to design and configure a ProSight ESP environment that addresses your company's unique needs and that allows you demonstrate compliance with legal and industry information protection regulations. Progent will assist you define and configure policies that ProSight ESP will enforce, and Progent will monitor your network and react to alarms that require immediate action. Progent can also assist your company to install and verify a backup and disaster recovery solution such as ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can get back in business quickly from a potentially disastrous cyber attack such as ransomware. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified endpoint protection and Microsoft Exchange email filtering.