Tacoma 24-7 Emergency Ransomware
Infection Assessment and Restoration Experts

Ransomware : Your Feared IT Catastrophe
Crypto-Ransomware has become an escalating cyberplague that poses an enterprise-level threat for organizations poorly prepared for an assault. Versions of ransomware such as Dharma, CryptoWall, Locky, SamSam and MongoLock cryptoworms have been circulating for many years and still cause havoc. The latest variants of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Conti or Egregor, plus additional unnamed newcomers, not only do encryption of on-line data files but also infiltrate any configured system protection mechanisms. Data replicated to cloud environments can also be encrypted. In a vulnerable environment, this can make any restore operations impossible and basically sets the datacenter back to zero.

Getting back applications and data following a ransomware event becomes a sprint against the clock as the targeted business fights to stop the spread, cleanup the virus, and restore business-critical activity. Due to the fact that ransomware needs time to spread, penetrations are frequently sprung during weekends and nights, when penetrations in many cases take longer to recognize. This multiplies the difficulty of quickly mobilizing and orchestrating an experienced mitigation team.

Progent offers a variety of services for securing businesses from ransomware events. Among these are staff education to become familiar with and not fall victim to phishing attempts, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for remote monitoring and management, in addition to installation of the latest generation security solutions with AI capabilities from SentinelOne to identify and quarantine new cyber attacks intelligently. Progent also offers the assistance of veteran crypto-ransomware recovery consultants with the talent and commitment to restore a compromised system as quickly as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Restoration Support Services
Subsequent to a ransomware event, sending the ransom in cryptocurrency does not guarantee that merciless criminals will provide the needed codes to decrypt all your information. Kaspersky Labs estimated that 17% of crypto-ransomware victims never restored their data after having sent off the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The risk is also very costly. Ryuk ransoms are commonly several hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom demand can be in the millions. The other path is to setup from scratch the key parts of your Information Technology environment. Without access to full information backups, this requires a wide range of IT skills, top notch team management, and the willingness to work non-stop until the recovery project is finished.

For two decades, Progent has made available certified expert Information Technology services for businesses across the U.S. and has earned Microsoft's Partnership certification status in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's pool of subject matter experts includes engineers who have been awarded advanced industry certifications in key technologies like Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity engineers have earned internationally-renowned certifications including CISM, CISSP-ISSAP, CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (See Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has expertise with financial systems and ERP software solutions. This breadth of expertise provides Progent the skills to rapidly determine critical systems and re-organize the remaining components of your network environment following a ransomware attack and assemble them into a functioning network.

Progent's security team deploys powerful project management tools to coordinate the complicated restoration process. Progent appreciates the urgency of working quickly and together with a client's management and IT staff to prioritize tasks and to put key systems back on-line as fast as humanly possible.

Case Study: A Successful Ransomware Incident Recovery
A customer escalated to Progent after their organization was taken over by the Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is believed to have been created by North Korean government sponsored hackers, suspected of adopting approaches exposed from the United States National Security Agency. Ryuk attacks specific companies with limited room for disruption and is among the most lucrative versions of ransomware viruses. Major victims include Data Resolution, a California-based data warehousing and cloud computing business, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a single-location manufacturing company headquartered in the Chicago metro area and has around 500 staff members. The Ryuk penetration had paralyzed all essential operations and manufacturing processes. Most of the client's data backups had been directly accessible at the time of the attack and were eventually encrypted. The client considered paying the ransom (exceeding $200,000) and wishfully thinking for the best, but in the end engaged Progent.

Progent worked together with the client to quickly identify and assign priority to the mission critical areas that had to be restored to make it possible to continue company operations:

• Active Directory
• Microsoft Exchange Email
• Accounting/MRP

Within two days, Progent was able to re-build Windows Active Directory to its pre-attack state. Progent then performed reinstallations and hard drive recovery of key systems. All Exchange data and attributes were usable, which greatly helped the restore of Exchange. Progent was able to locate intact OST files (Outlook Email Offline Data Files) on team PCs to recover mail data. A recent offline backup of the customer's financials/ERP systems made it possible to recover these vital services back available to users. Although major work needed to be completed to recover totally from the Ryuk damage, essential services were recovered rapidly:

During the next few weeks critical milestones in the restoration process were made through close collaboration between Progent consultants and the client:

• Internal web applications were returned to operation without losing any information.
• The MailStore Microsoft Exchange Server containing more than 4 million archived messages was brought online and accessible to users.
• CRM/Orders/Invoicing/Accounts Payable/AR/Inventory Control functions were completely recovered.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was set up and programmed.
• Ninety percent of the user desktops and notebooks were back into operation.

Conclusion
A probable company-ending disaster was evaded through the efforts of hard-working experts, a broad range of IT skills, and close teamwork. Although upon completion of forensics the crypto-ransomware virus penetration detailed here should have been identified and prevented with advanced cyber security systems and security best practices, user and IT administrator education, and well thought out incident response procedures for information backup and applying software patches, the fact remains that state-sponsored cyber criminals from Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are relentless and represent an ongoing threat. If you do fall victim to a ransomware virus, feel confident that Progent's team of experts has a proven track record in ransomware virus blocking, removal, and file recovery.

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

Additional Crypto-Ransomware Protection Services Available from Progent
Progent can provide businesses in Tacoma a variety of online monitoring and security evaluation services designed to assist you to minimize your vulnerability to ransomware. These services include modern artificial intelligence capability to detect zero-day variants of crypto-ransomware that can evade legacy signature-based anti-virus products.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Remote Monitoring
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop monitoring service that incorporates advanced remote monitoring and management techniques to keep your network operating efficiently by tracking the health of critical computers that drive your information system. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers a problem, an alert is transmitted immediately to your designated IT staff and your Progent consultant so that all looming problems can be resolved before they have a chance to impact your network. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop remote monitoring consulting.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Unified RMM for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software delivers a unified, cloud-based platform for managing your client-server infrastructure by offering tools for streamlining common tedious tasks. These can include health monitoring, update management, automated repairs, endpoint deployment, backup and recovery, A/V response, secure remote access, built-in and custom scripts, resource inventory, endpoint status reporting, and debugging help. If ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM identifies a serious problem, it transmits an alert to your specified IT management personnel and your Progent technical consultant so emerging issues can be taken care of before they interfere with productivity. Find out more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Infrastructure Remote Monitoring and Management
  ProSight WAN Watch is a network infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for small and mid-sized organizations to map, track, reconfigure and debug their networking hardware such as routers, firewalls, and load balancers as well as servers, client computers and other networked devices. Incorporating state-of-the-art Remote Monitoring and Management technology, WAN Watch makes sure that network maps are kept current, captures and manages the configuration information of virtually all devices on your network, tracks performance, and sends notices when problems are discovered. By automating tedious management processes, ProSight WAN Watch can knock hours off ordinary chores such as making network diagrams, reconfiguring your network, locating appliances that require critical software patches, or identifying the cause of performance bottlenecks. Find out more details about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure management consulting.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time and In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding family of in-depth reporting utilities designed to work with the industry's leading ticketing and network monitoring platforms such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and features color coding to highlight and contextualize key issues like spotty support follow-through or endpoints with missing patches. By identifying ticketing or network health problems clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves network value, lowers management overhead, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring platforms.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with advanced backup software companies to produce ProSight Data Protection Services, a portfolio of subscription-based management outsourcing plans that deliver backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS services automate and track your data backup processes and enable transparent backup and rapid restoration of vital files/folders, apps, images, plus VMs. ProSight DPS helps your business avoid data loss resulting from hardware breakdown, natural calamities, fire, malware like ransomware, user error, ill-intentioned insiders, or software glitches. Managed backup services available in the ProSight Data Protection Services product line 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 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent service representative can help you to identify which of these fully managed backup services are best suited for your IT environment.

• 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 infrastructure of top data security vendors to provide centralized management and world-class protection for your email traffic. The powerful structure of Progent's Email Guard integrates cloud-based filtering with an on-premises gateway device to offer complete defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, DHAs, and other email-based malware. Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer acts as a preliminary barricade and keeps the vast majority of threats from reaching your security perimeter. This reduces your vulnerability to external threats and conserves network bandwidth and storage space. Email Guard's onsite gateway device provides a further level of inspection for incoming email. For outgoing email, the on-premises gateway offers anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, policy-based Data Loss Prevention, and email encryption. The local security gateway can also assist Microsoft Exchange Server to monitor and safeguard internal email that originates and ends within your corporate firewall. For more details, see Email Guard spam and content filtering.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: Identity Validation, Endpoint Remediation, and Protected Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo MFA service plans utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you log into a secured application and give your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second means of ID validation including a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. To learn more about Duo identity authentication services, visit Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services.

• Outsourced/Co-managed Call Desk: Help Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Help Desk services permit your IT team to outsource Help Desk services to Progent or divide activity for Service Desk support transparently between your in-house support team and Progent's extensive pool of certified IT service engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Shared Service Desk provides a smooth supplement to your internal network support staff. User interaction with the Help Desk, delivery of support, issue escalation, trouble ticket generation and updates, performance measurement, and management of the support database are cohesive whether issues are taken care of by your core network support resources, by Progent, or both. Read more about Progent's outsourced/shared Service Desk services.

• Active Protection Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Detection and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Protection Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) managed service that utilizes cutting edge behavior machine learning tools to defend endpoint devices as well as servers and VMs against modern malware assaults such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely get by traditional signature-matching AV products. Progent Active Security Monitoring services protect on-premises and cloud-based resources and provides a unified platform to manage the entire threat lifecycle including filtering, infiltration detection, containment, cleanup, and forensics. Top capabilities include single-click rollback with Windows VSS and automatic network-wide immunization against new attacks. Read 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 allows you to create, maintain, find and protect information related to your IT infrastructure, processes, business apps, and services. You can instantly locate passwords or IP addresses and be warned about impending expirations of SSLs or domains. By updating and managing your IT documentation, you can eliminate up to 50% of time spent trying to find vital information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a common repository for storing and sharing all documents required for managing your business network like standard operating procedures (SOPs) and How-To's. ProSight IT Asset Management also offers a high level of automation for gathering and associating IT information. Whether you're making improvements, performing regular maintenance, or responding to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the data you need the instant you need it. Find out more about ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's support services for patch management provide businesses of all sizes a versatile and cost-effective alternative for assessing, testing, scheduling, applying, and tracking updates to your ever-evolving information network. Besides optimizing the security and reliability of your computer environment, Progent's patch management services permit your in-house IT staff to concentrate on line-of-business initiatives and tasks that derive maximum business value from your information network. Read more about Progent's patch management support services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted VMs 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 protected fault tolerant data center on a fast virtual host set up and maintained by Progent's IT support experts. Under the ProSight Virtual Hosting service model, the customer owns the data, the OS platforms, and the apps. Because the system is virtualized, it can be ported easily to a different hardware solution without a lengthy and difficult reinstallation procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not tied one hosting service. Learn more details about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that utilizes SentinelOne's cutting edge behavior-based analysis tools to guard physical and virtual endpoints against new malware assaults such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily evade traditional signature-matching anti-virus tools. ProSight Active Security Monitoring safeguards on-premises and cloud-based resources and provides a unified platform to manage the entire threat progression including protection, identification, mitigation, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Top features include one-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and real-time network-wide immunization against newly discovered threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection: Physical and Virtual Endpoint Protection and Exchange Email Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection services deliver ultra-affordable in-depth protection for physical and virtual servers, desktops, mobile devices, and Exchange email. ProSight ESP uses contextual security and modern behavior analysis for continuously monitoring and reacting to cyber threats from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP offers firewall protection, intrusion alerts, endpoint management, and web filtering through leading-edge technologies incorporated within one agent accessible from a single console. Progent's security and virtualization experts can help you to design and configure a ProSight ESP environment that meets your organization's specific needs and that allows you prove compliance with government and industry information security standards. Progent will help you specify and implement security policies that ProSight ESP will manage, and Progent will monitor your IT environment and react to alarms that call for urgent attention. Progent's consultants can also assist your company to set up and verify a backup and disaster recovery system like ProSight Data Protection Services so you can get back in business rapidly from a potentially disastrous cyber attack like ransomware. Read more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified physical and virtual endpoint security and Microsoft Exchange email filtering.