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Ransomware : Your Crippling IT Catastrophe
Crypto-Ransomware has become an escalating cyberplague that poses an existential danger for businesses vulnerable to an assault. Different iterations of ransomware like the Dharma, Fusob, Bad Rabbit, SamSam and MongoLock cryptoworms have been running rampant for many years and still cause havoc. More recent strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Snatch or Egregor, plus frequent unnamed malware, not only encrypt online data files but also infiltrate many configured system protection mechanisms. Data replicated to cloud environments can also be corrupted. In a poorly designed environment, this can render automatic restore operations useless and basically sets the datacenter back to zero.

Restoring applications and data after a ransomware attack becomes a race against time as the victim tries its best to contain, clear the crypto-ransomware, and restore enterprise-critical activity. Due to the fact that ransomware needs time to replicate, attacks are frequently sprung on weekends and holidays, when attacks tend to take longer to discover. This multiplies the difficulty of quickly marshalling and coordinating a knowledgeable response team.

Progent offers an assortment of services for securing organizations from ransomware attacks. Among these are staff education to help identify and not fall victim to phishing exploits, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, in addition to deployment of the latest generation security gateways with artificial intelligence technology from SentinelOne to identify and extinguish day-zero cyber attacks rapidly. Progent in addition can provide the services of expert ransomware recovery professionals with the talent and perseverance to re-deploy a compromised system as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Recovery Services
Soon after a crypto-ransomware invasion, paying the ransom in cryptocurrency does not ensure that cyber criminals will provide the keys to unencrypt any of your information. Kaspersky Labs estimated that seventeen percent of crypto-ransomware victims never restored their files even after having sent off the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The risk is also expensive. Ryuk ransoms are often several hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom can be in the millions of dollars. The fallback is to setup from scratch the key elements of your Information Technology environment. Without the availability of complete system backups, this requires a broad range of IT skills, well-coordinated project management, and the willingness to work non-stop until the task is over.

For two decades, Progent has offered certified expert IT services for businesses throughout the United States and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts includes consultants who have attained advanced certifications in important technologies including Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's security consultants have earned internationally-renowned industry certifications including CISM, CISSP-ISSAP, CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (See Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has experience in financial management and ERP software solutions. This breadth of experience affords Progent the skills to efficiently determine critical systems and organize the remaining pieces of your Information Technology system following a ransomware event and assemble them into an operational network.

Progent's ransomware team deploys state-of-the-art project management tools to orchestrate the complex recovery process. Progent knows the importance of working quickly and together with a customer's management and Information Technology resources to assign priority to tasks and to get the most important applications back on-line as soon as humanly possible.

Client Case Study: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Penetration Response
A customer hired Progent after their network was crashed by the Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is thought to have been developed by Northern Korean state sponsored cybercriminals, suspected of using approaches leaked from the U.S. National Security Agency. Ryuk goes after specific organizations with little or no room for disruption and is one of the most profitable versions of crypto-ransomware. High publicized organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's customer is a regional manufacturing company based in the Chicago metro area and has around 500 workers. The Ryuk event had disabled all essential operations and manufacturing processes. Most of the client's information backups had been directly accessible at the time of the intrusion and were destroyed. The client was actively seeking loans for paying the ransom demand (in excess of $200,000) and wishfully thinking for good luck, but ultimately utilized Progent.

Progent worked hand in hand the client to rapidly identify and prioritize the key elements that had to be recovered in order to continue company functions:

• Active Directory (AD)
• Microsoft Exchange Server
• Accounting and Manufacturing Software

In less than 2 days, Progent was able to restore Windows Active Directory to its pre-virus state. Progent then assisted with setup and storage recovery of key systems. All Exchange Server ties and attributes were intact, which greatly helped the restore of Exchange. Progent was also able to assemble intact OST data files (Microsoft Outlook Off-Line Data Files) on team desktop computers and laptops to recover email messages. A recent off-line backup of the customer's accounting software made it possible to recover these essential programs back on-line. Although significant work still had to be done to recover completely from the Ryuk attack, the most important services were recovered rapidly:

Throughout the next few weeks important milestones in the recovery process were completed through tight cooperation between Progent team members and the customer:

• Internal web sites were returned to operation with no loss of data.
• The MailStore Microsoft Exchange Server with over 4 million archived emails was restored to operations and accessible to users.
• CRM/Orders/Invoicing/Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivables (AR)/Inventory functions were fully operational.
• A new Palo Alto Networks 850 firewall was brought on-line.
• Most of the user PCs were back into operation.

Conclusion
A potential business catastrophe was dodged due to dedicated experts, a broad array of knowledge, and tight teamwork. Although in hindsight the ransomware penetration described here could have been identified and stopped with current cyber security technology solutions and NIST Cybersecurity Framework best practices, team training, and properly executed incident response procedures for information backup and keeping systems up to date with security patches, the fact is that government-sponsored cybercriminals from China, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and are an ongoing threat. If you do fall victim to a crypto-ransomware attack, feel confident that Progent's roster of professionals has proven experience in ransomware virus defense, mitigation, and information systems restoration.

To review or download a PDF version of this case study, please click:
Progent's Ryuk Incident Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)

Additional Crypto-Ransomware Protection Services Available from Progent
Progent offers companies in Stamford a variety of remote monitoring and security assessment services to assist you to reduce the threat from ransomware. These services incorporate next-generation artificial intelligence capability to uncover zero-day strains of ransomware that are able to escape detection by traditional signature-based anti-virus solutions.

• ProSight Managed Service Plans: for Small to Mid-size Businesses
  Progent's ProSight Managed IT Service Plans make it feasible for small and mid-size companies to deploy Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) technology to create advanced network resilience. Progent handles the daily monitoring and management for you, so your network expands easily without becoming an obstacle. For an affordable and predictable monthly price, Progent's full-service IT team can be your dependable technology safety net. Entry-level plans include RMM, cybersecurity, automatic monthly patching, and reporting. As your needs grow, you can add low-cost subscriptions to advanced solutions such as SaaS M365/Google Workspace backup, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), penetration testing, or WiFi management.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Monitoring
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop remote monitoring managed service that uses advanced remote monitoring and management (RMM) techniques to keep your network operating at peak levels by tracking the health of critical assets that drive your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers a problem, an alarm is transmitted automatically to your designated IT management staff and your Progent consultant so that all looming problems can be resolved before they have a chance to impact your network. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop monitoring services.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a unified, cloud-based solution for managing your client-server infrastructure by offering tools for streamlining common time-consuming jobs. These can include health monitoring, patch management, automated repairs, endpoint setup, backup and recovery, A/V protection, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reporting, and troubleshooting assistance. If ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM spots a serious incident, it transmits an alarm to your specified IT management staff and your Progent consultant so that emerging issues can be taken care of before they impact productivity. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop remote monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for smaller organizations to map, monitor, optimize and troubleshoot their networking appliances such as switches, firewalls, and access points plus servers, printers, client computers and other networked devices. Incorporating cutting-edge RMM technology, ProSight WAN Watch ensures that infrastructure topology maps are kept updated, captures and displays the configuration information of virtually all devices connected to your network, tracks performance, and generates alerts when problems are discovered. By automating time-consuming management processes, ProSight WAN Watch can cut hours off ordinary tasks like network mapping, reconfiguring your network, locating devices that require important software patches, or resolving performance issues. Learn more details about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure management services.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time and In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is a growing family of in-depth management reporting tools created to integrate with the industry's top ticketing and network monitoring programs including ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and features color coding to surface and contextualize key issues such as spotty support follow-through or machines with out-of-date AVs. By exposing ticketing or network health problems clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves productivity, lowers management hassle, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring applications.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Backup and Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with leading backup technology providers to produce ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a selection of subscription-based management outsourcing plans that deliver backup-as-a-service (BaaS). ProSight DPS services automate and monitor your data backup operations and enable transparent backup and rapid recovery of vital files/folders, applications, images, plus Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. ProSight DPS lets your business protect against data loss resulting from equipment failures, natural disasters, fire, cyber attacks such as ransomware, user mistakes, ill-intentioned employees, or application bugs. Managed services available in the ProSight DPS product family include ProSight DPS 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 assist you to determine which of these managed 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 filtering and email encryption service that incorporates the technology of leading data security companies to provide web-based management and world-class protection for all your email traffic. The powerful architecture of Email Guard managed service integrates cloud-based filtering with an on-premises security gateway appliance to provide advanced defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks, and other email-based threats. Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer serves as a preliminary barricade and blocks most unwanted email from making it to your security perimeter. This reduces your exposure to external threats and saves system bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's onsite gateway appliance provides a further level of inspection for incoming email. For outbound email, the local security gateway offers AV and anti-spam protection, DLP, and email encryption. The on-premises gateway can also assist Exchange Server to track and protect internal email that stays inside your corporate firewall. For more information, see Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight Duo Two-Factor Authentication: Identity Validation, Endpoint Remediation, and Secure Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo MFA services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you sign into a secured application and give your password you are asked to verify your identity on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You may register several verification devices. To learn more about Duo identity validation services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

• Progent's Outsourced/Shared Call Desk: Call Center Managed Services
  Progent's Call Center managed services enable your IT team to offload Call Center services to Progent or split responsibilities for Service Desk support seamlessly between your in-house network support staff and Progent's nationwide roster of IT support technicians, engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Progent's Shared Service Desk offers a smooth extension of your corporate support staff. User interaction with the Service Desk, provision of technical assistance, problem escalation, ticket creation and updates, performance metrics, and maintenance of the support database are cohesive regardless of whether issues are taken care of by your core IT support resources, by Progent's team, or by a combination. Find out more about Progent's outsourced/shared Call Center services.

• Progent Active Defense Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Identification and Remediation
  Progent's Active Defense Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection service that incorporates next generation behavior-based analysis tools to defend endpoint devices and physical and virtual servers against modern malware attacks like ransomware and email phishing, which routinely get by legacy signature-based AV tools. Progent ASM services protect local and cloud-based resources and provides a unified platform to manage the entire threat lifecycle including filtering, infiltration detection, containment, remediation, and forensics. Top features include single-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and real-time system-wide immunization against new attacks. Learn more about Progent's ransomware protection and cleanup services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service is a cloud-based IT documentation management service that makes it easy to capture, update, retrieve and safeguard data about your IT infrastructure, procedures, business apps, and services. You can quickly find passwords or IP addresses and be alerted about upcoming expirations of SSLs or warranties. By cleaning up and managing your IT infrastructure documentation, you can save as much as half of time thrown away trying to find vital information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management includes a centralized location for storing and collaborating on all documents related to managing your network infrastructure like standard operating procedures (SOPs) and self-service instructions. ProSight IT Asset Management also supports advanced automation for collecting and associating IT data. Whether you're making improvements, doing regular maintenance, or reacting to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management gets you the information you need as soon as you need it. Learn more about ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Software/Firmware Update Management Services
  Progent's managed services for patch management provide organizations of any size a flexible and cost-effective alternative for assessing, validating, scheduling, implementing, and tracking updates to your ever-evolving information network. In addition to optimizing the protection and reliability of your computer network, Progent's patch management services permit your in-house IT team to concentrate on more strategic projects and tasks that deliver the highest business value from your network. Learn more about Progent's patch management 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 business can have its key servers and apps hosted in a protected Tier III data center on a high-performance virtual machine host set up and maintained by Progent's IT support experts. With the ProSight Virtual Hosting model, the customer retains ownership of the data, the OS platforms, and the applications. Since the environment is virtualized, it can be ported immediately to a different hardware solution without requiring a lengthy and technically risky configuration process. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, your business is not locked into one hosting provider. Find out more about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection (EPP) solution that utilizes SentinelOne's next generation behavior-based analysis tools to defend physical and virtual endpoint devices against modern malware attacks such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily evade traditional signature-based AV tools. ProSight ASM protects on-premises and cloud-based resources and offers a unified platform to manage the entire threat lifecycle including protection, detection, mitigation, remediation, and forensics. Top features include single-click rollback using Windows VSS and real-time system-wide immunization against newly discovered attacks. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Read more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) endpoint protection and ransomware recovery.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection: Physical and Virtual Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Exchange Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection services offer ultra-affordable in-depth protection for physical servers and VMs, desktops, mobile devices, and Exchange Server. ProSight ESP utilizes adaptive security and advanced heuristics for round-the-clock monitoring and responding to security assaults from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP offers two-way firewall protection, intrusion alerts, endpoint control, and web filtering via leading-edge tools packaged within a single agent accessible from a unified console. Progent's data protection and virtualization consultants can help your business to design and implement a ProSight ESP environment that addresses your company's unique needs and that helps you demonstrate compliance with government and industry information security standards. Progent will help you specify and configure security policies that ProSight ESP will manage, and Progent will monitor your IT environment and react to alarms that call for urgent action. Progent can also help you to install and verify a backup and disaster recovery system such as ProSight Data Protection Services so you can recover quickly from a potentially disastrous cyber attack like ransomware. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) unified endpoint protection and Microsoft Exchange email filtering.