Ransomware Prevention and Remediation Consulting Miami

Ransomware : Your Feared IT Disaster
Ransomware has become an escalating cyberplague that poses an enterprise-level danger for businesses vulnerable to an assault. Different iterations of ransomware such as Dharma, CryptoWall, Bad Rabbit, Syskey and MongoLock cryptoworms have been out in the wild for many years and still cause damage. Newer variants of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Conti and Nephilim, along with additional unnamed malware, not only encrypt online critical data but also infiltrate many configured system protection mechanisms. Data synched to the cloud can also be ransomed. In a poorly architected data protection solution, this can make any restoration useless and basically knocks the network back to zero.

Recovering applications and information following a ransomware outage becomes a sprint against the clock as the victim tries its best to stop lateral movement, clear the ransomware, and restore mission-critical activity. Since crypto-ransomware needs time to spread across a network, attacks are usually launched at night, when successful penetrations may take more time to identify. This multiplies the difficulty of promptly marshalling and coordinating a knowledgeable response team.

Progent provides a variety of support services for protecting Miami enterprises from ransomware events. Among these are staff training to become familiar with and avoid phishing exploits, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for endpoint detection and response using SentinelOne's AI-based threat protection to discover and suppress day-zero modern malware assaults. Progent in addition can provide the assistance of seasoned ransomware recovery consultants with the skills and perseverance to rebuild a compromised system as quickly as possible.

Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Restoration Help
Following a crypto-ransomware event, paying the ransom in cryptocurrency does not ensure that distant criminals will return the needed keys to decrypt any or all of your data. Kaspersky Labs estimated that seventeen percent of crypto-ransomware victims never restored their data even after having paid the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The gamble is also very costly. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom can reach millions. The alternative is to setup from scratch the essential parts of your Information Technology environment. Without access to essential system backups, this calls for a wide range of IT skills, top notch team management, and the ability to work continuously until the job is finished.

For decades, Progent has made available professional IT services for companies throughout the US and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes professionals who have been awarded top industry certifications in foundation technologies including Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's security specialists have earned internationally-renowned industry certifications including CISM, CISSP, CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also has experience in accounting and ERP application software. This breadth of expertise affords Progent the capability to knowledgably understand critical systems and organize the surviving components of your computer network environment after a ransomware event and rebuild them into an operational network.

Progent's security team of experts uses state-of-the-art project management applications to coordinate the complex restoration process. Progent understands the urgency of acting rapidly and in concert with a client's management and IT team members to prioritize tasks and to put essential applications back on-line as fast as possible.

Client Case Study: A Successful Ransomware Attack Response
A customer escalated to Progent after their network was brought down by Ryuk crypto-ransomware. Ryuk is thought to have been deployed by North Korean government sponsored hackers, suspected of using techniques leaked from the U.S. National Security Agency. Ryuk targets specific businesses with limited room for disruption and is among the most lucrative examples of ransomware malware. Major organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing business, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a single-location manufacturer located in Chicago and has around 500 staff members. The Ryuk penetration had shut down all essential operations and manufacturing processes. Most of the client's backups had been directly accessible at the beginning of the attack and were eventually encrypted. The client was evaluating paying the ransom demand (exceeding $200,000) and hoping for good luck, but in the end brought in Progent.

Progent worked together with the customer to quickly determine and prioritize the essential elements that had to be recovered to make it possible to restart departmental functions:

• Active Directory
• Microsoft Exchange Email
• Financials/MRP

In less than 48 hours, Progent was able to recover Active Directory to its pre-intrusion state. Progent then performed reinstallations and hard drive recovery on the most important applications. All Microsoft Exchange Server ties and attributes were intact, which facilitated the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was also able to collect non-encrypted OST data files (Outlook Offline Data Files) on user workstations to recover email messages. A not too old offline backup of the customer's accounting systems made them able to recover these required applications back on-line. Although a large amount of work remained to recover totally from the Ryuk virus, core systems were returned to operations rapidly:

Over the following month key milestones in the restoration project were made through tight cooperation between Progent consultants and the customer:

• In-house web applications were brought back up with no loss of information.
• The MailStore Server with over 4 million archived emails was brought online and accessible to users.
• CRM/Customer Orders/Invoicing/Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivables/Inventory Control capabilities were 100 percent operational.
• A new Palo Alto Networks 850 firewall was deployed.
• 90% of the desktops and laptops were fully operational.

Conclusion
A likely company-ending catastrophe was avoided by dedicated experts, a broad spectrum of knowledge, and close collaboration. Although in analyzing the event afterwards the ransomware incident detailed here could have been prevented with up-to-date cyber security systems and NIST Cybersecurity Framework best practices, user and IT administrator training, and well thought out incident response procedures for information backup and keeping systems up to date with security patches, the fact remains that government-sponsored cyber criminals from China, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and represent an ongoing threat. If you do get hit by a crypto-ransomware incident, remember that Progent's roster of professionals has substantial experience in ransomware virus blocking, remediation, and file restoration.

Download the Crypto-Ransomware Recovery Case Study Datasheet
To review or download a PDF version of this customer case study, click:
Progent's Ransomware Virus Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)

Contact Progent for Ransomware Cleanup Consulting Services in Miami
For ransomware recovery expertise in the Miami metro area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.