Ransomware Prevention and Cleanup Consulting Corpus Christi

Crypto-Ransomware : Your Feared Information Technology Nightmare
Crypto-Ransomware has become an escalating cyber pandemic that poses an existential danger for businesses of all sizes unprepared for an attack. Multiple generations of ransomware like the CryptoLocker, Fusob, Bad Rabbit, SamSam and MongoLock cryptoworms have been replicating for years and continue to inflict havoc. Modern strains of crypto-ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, LockBit and Egregor, plus frequent unnamed newcomers, not only perform encryption of on-line files but also infiltrate most accessible system protection. Data replicated to the cloud can also be rendered useless. In a poorly architected system, it can make automatic recovery impossible and basically sets the datacenter back to zero.

Recovering applications and information following a ransomware event becomes a race against the clock as the victim struggles to contain, clear the virus, and resume business-critical operations. Since ransomware takes time to replicate throughout a network, attacks are frequently sprung on weekends, when successful penetrations in many cases take longer to discover. This multiplies the difficulty of rapidly marshalling and orchestrating a capable response team.

Progent offers a variety of solutions for securing Corpus Christi enterprises from ransomware attacks. These include user education to become familiar with and avoid phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for endpoint detection and response (EDR) using SentinelOne's AI-based threat protection to identify and extinguish day-zero modern malware attacks. Progent also offers the services of seasoned crypto-ransomware recovery consultants with the track record and perseverance to rebuild a breached network as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Recovery Support Services
After a crypto-ransomware event, paying the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not provide any assurance that merciless criminals will respond with the needed codes to unencrypt any or all of your information. Kaspersky Labs determined that 17% of ransomware victims never recovered their information even after having sent off the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The risk is also costly. Ryuk ransoms are typically several hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom demand can reach millions. The other path is to setup from scratch the critical parts of your Information Technology environment. Absent access to full system backups, this calls for a broad complement of skill sets, well-coordinated project management, and the ability to work non-stop until the job is completed.

For decades, Progent has made available certified expert IT services for companies throughout the United States and has earned Microsoft's Partnership certification status in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts includes professionals who have been awarded high-level certifications in leading technologies like Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's security experts have earned internationally-recognized certifications including CISA, CISSP, CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has expertise with financial management and ERP application software. This breadth of expertise provides Progent the ability to rapidly determine critical systems and integrate the remaining components of your computer network environment following a crypto-ransomware event and configure them into an operational system.

Progent's ransomware team deploys state-of-the-art project management systems to orchestrate the complex restoration process. Progent knows the urgency of acting quickly and in unison with a customer's management and IT staff to assign priority to tasks and to put key systems back on line as soon as possible.

Customer Story: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Virus Restoration
A business contacted Progent after their organization was taken over by Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is believed to have been launched by North Korean state sponsored hackers, possibly using techniques exposed from the U.S. NSA organization. Ryuk attacks specific organizations with little room for disruption and is among the most lucrative iterations of crypto-ransomware. High publicized targets include Data Resolution, a California-based data warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a small manufacturing company headquartered in the Chicago metro area with about 500 staff members. The Ryuk intrusion had disabled all company operations and manufacturing processes. The majority of the client's data protection had been directly accessible at the time of the attack and were encrypted. The client was pursuing financing for paying the ransom demand (more than $200,000) and hoping for the best, but in the end made the decision to use Progent.

Progent worked with the customer to quickly assess and assign priority to the mission critical elements that needed to be addressed to make it possible to continue departmental functions:

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

Within 2 days, Progent was able to recover Active Directory to its pre-intrusion state. Progent then completed setup and hard drive recovery on the most important systems. All Exchange Server schema and configuration information were usable, which accelerated the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was also able to assemble intact OST files (Outlook Email Off-Line Data Files) on user workstations in order to recover mail messages. A not too old off-line backup of the customer's accounting/MRP systems made it possible to recover these essential applications back online. Although a lot of work remained to recover fully from the Ryuk damage, the most important services were restored rapidly:

Throughout the following couple of weeks key milestones in the recovery process were accomplished in close collaboration between Progent consultants and the customer:

• Self-hosted web applications were restored without losing any data.
• The MailStore Exchange Server with over four million archived messages was spun up and accessible to users.
• CRM/Customer Orders/Invoices/AP/AR/Inventory modules were fully recovered.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was installed and configured.
• Nearly all of the user workstations were functioning as before the incident.

Conclusion
A potential business disaster was evaded through the efforts of dedicated experts, a broad array of IT skills, and tight teamwork. Although in hindsight the ransomware penetration described here would have been identified and prevented with advanced security technology solutions and security best practices, staff education, and well thought out security procedures for data protection and keeping systems up to date with security patches, the fact remains that government-sponsored hackers from Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and are not going away. If you do get hit by a crypto-ransomware attack, remember that Progent's team of professionals has extensive experience in ransomware virus blocking, mitigation, and file recovery.

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

Contact Progent for Ransomware Recovery Consulting Services in Corpus Christi
For ransomware system restoration consulting in the Corpus Christi metro area, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.