Cambridge Ransomware Prevention and Cleanup Solutions

Ransomware has been widely adopted by cyber extortionists and bad-actor governments, posing a potentially existential risk to businesses that fall victim. Modern variations of crypto-ransomware target all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even selective recovery a challenging and costly exercise. Novel variations of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, Snatch and Nephilim have emerged, displacing Locky, Spora, and NotPetya in prominence, elaborateness, and destructive impact.

Most crypto-ransomware penetrations are the result of innocent-looking emails with dangerous links or file attachments, and many are "zero-day" attacks that elude the defenses of legacy signature-based antivirus (AV) filters. While user education and frontline identification are important to defend against ransomware, best practices dictate that you assume some attacks will eventually succeed and that you put in place a strong backup solution that enables you to recover quickly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Checkup is a low-cost service centered around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant skilled in ransomware defense and repair. During this assessment Progent will collaborate directly with your Cambridge IT managers to collect pertinent data concerning your security profile and backup processes. Progent will utilize this information to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Report documenting how to apply leading practices for configuring and administering your cybersecurity and backup solution to block or clean up after a ransomware assault.

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

Security

• Correct use of administration accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB authorizations
• Proper firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol access
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup integrity
• Backing up required servers including Active Directory
• Geographically dispersed backups including cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts or deletes files so they are unusable or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware often locks the victim's computer. To prevent the carnage, the target is asked to send a specified ransom, typically via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short time window. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will recover the lost data or avoid its exposure to the public. Files can be altered or deleted across a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot break the military-grade encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A typical ransomware attack vector is tainted email, in which the victim is lured into responding to by a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This causes the email to look as though it came from a familiar source. Another common vulnerability is a poorly secured Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

CryptoLocker opened the modern era of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the damage caused by the many versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, roughly doubling every two years. Notorious examples include WannaCry, and NotPetya. Recent high-profile threats like Ryuk, Sodinokibi and CryptoWall are more sophisticated and have caused more havoc than earlier strains. Even if your backup processes permit your business to recover your ransomed data, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where ransomed documents are exposed to the public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional variants of ransomware are launched daily, there is no guarantee that conventional signature-based anti-virus filters will block a new attack. If an attack does show up in an email, it is critical that your users have been taught to identify social engineering tricks. Your ultimate defense is a sound scheme for scheduling and keeping remote backups and the use of dependable recovery platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Susceptibility Assessment in Cambridge
For pricing details and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Readiness Checkup can bolster your defense against crypto-ransomware in Cambridge, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.