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Ransomware : Your Crippling Information Technology Nightmare
Ransomware has become a modern cyber pandemic that poses an extinction-level danger for businesses of all sizes poorly prepared for an attack. Multiple generations of ransomware like the CrySIS, Fusob, Locky, NotPetya and MongoLock cryptoworms have been running rampant for a long time and continue to cause damage. Newer variants of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, LockBit or Nephilim, as well as additional unnamed viruses, not only do encryption of online files but also infect any configured system protection. Data replicated to off-site disaster recovery sites can also be ransomed. In a poorly architected data protection solution, it can make automatic restore operations useless and basically knocks the entire system back to zero.

Retrieving programs and data after a ransomware outage becomes a sprint against time as the victim tries its best to contain, clear the ransomware, and resume enterprise-critical activity. Due to the fact that ransomware takes time to move laterally, penetrations are often launched on weekends, when penetrations tend to take longer to detect. This compounds the difficulty of rapidly mobilizing and orchestrating a capable mitigation team.

Progent provides a variety of services for protecting enterprises from ransomware events. These include user training to become familiar with and not fall victim to phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for remote monitoring and management, along with deployment of next-generation security appliances with machine learning capabilities from SentinelOne to discover and suppress new cyber threats quickly. Progent in addition offers the services of seasoned ransomware recovery professionals with the skills and perseverance to reconstruct a compromised environment as rapidly as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Recovery Help
After a ransomware penetration, paying the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not guarantee that cyber hackers will return the needed keys to decipher any or all of your files. Kaspersky Labs determined that seventeen percent of ransomware victims never recovered their data after having sent off the ransom, resulting in increased losses. The gamble is also very costly. Ryuk ransoms are typically several hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can reach millions of dollars. The alternative is to re-install the vital elements of your IT environment. Without access to full data backups, this requires a broad range of skill sets, professional project management, and the ability to work non-stop until the recovery project is completed.

For twenty years, Progent has offered professional Information Technology services for companies across the U.S. and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification status in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's team of subject matter experts includes consultants who have attained high-level industry certifications in important technologies such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's cyber security engineers have earned internationally-renowned certifications including CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, ISACA CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has expertise in accounting and ERP application software. This breadth of experience provides Progent the ability to rapidly ascertain important systems and consolidate the surviving pieces of your Information Technology environment after a ransomware event and configure them into a functioning network.

Progent's security team of experts has top notch project management systems to coordinate the complex recovery process. Progent knows the importance of acting swiftly and together with a customer's management and Information Technology resources to assign priority to tasks and to get the most important systems back online as fast as humanly possible.

Case Study: A Successful Ransomware Incident Recovery
A business sought out Progent after their network was taken over by Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is generally considered to have been created by Northern Korean government sponsored criminal gangs, suspected of using strategies exposed from the United States NSA organization. Ryuk targets specific organizations with little or no tolerance for disruption and is one of the most profitable incarnations of ransomware. Major organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing business, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a regional manufacturing company located in the Chicago metro area with about 500 employees. The Ryuk penetration had brought down all business operations and manufacturing capabilities. The majority of the client's data protection had been directly accessible at the beginning of the attack and were encrypted. The client was evaluating paying the ransom (in excess of two hundred thousand dollars) and wishfully thinking for good luck, but ultimately brought in Progent.

Progent worked together with the client to quickly understand and assign priority to the most important applications that needed to be restored in order to restart business operations:

• Windows Active Directory
• Electronic Mail
• Accounting and Manufacturing Software

Within 2 days, Progent was able to rebuild Active Directory to its pre-attack state. Progent then helped perform setup and storage recovery on needed applications. All Exchange Server ties and configuration information were intact, which accelerated the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was able to collect non-encrypted OST files (Outlook Email Offline Folder Files) on team PCs and laptops to recover email messages. A recent off-line backup of the client's financials/MRP software made it possible to restore these vital programs back online. Although a lot of work was left to recover fully from the Ryuk event, the most important systems were recovered rapidly:

Throughout the next month important milestones in the recovery project were accomplished in close collaboration between Progent consultants and the client:

• Self-hosted web sites were returned to operation with no loss of data.
• The MailStore Microsoft Exchange Server with over four million historical emails was restored to operations and accessible to users.
• CRM/Customer Orders/Invoices/Accounts Payable/AR/Inventory capabilities were 100% recovered.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was set up.
• Most of the user PCs were back into operation.

Conclusion
A likely business catastrophe was avoided by results-oriented experts, a broad array of knowledge, and tight collaboration. Although in analyzing the event afterwards the ransomware virus incident detailed here could have been shut down with modern cyber security systems and best practices, user and IT administrator training, and well designed security procedures for information backup and applying software patches, the reality is that government-sponsored hackers from China, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and are not going away. If you do get hit by a ransomware incursion, feel confident that Progent's roster of experts has extensive experience in ransomware virus defense, remediation, and data recovery.

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

Additional Ransomware Protection Services Available from Progent
Progent offers companies in Indianapolis a variety of remote monitoring and security assessment services to help you to minimize the threat from ransomware. These services utilize next-generation artificial intelligence technology to uncover zero-day strains of crypto-ransomware that are able to evade traditional signature-based anti-virus products.

• ProSight Managed Service Plans: for Small to Mid-size Businesses
  Progent's ProSight Managed IT Service Packages make it practical for small and mid-size businesses to utilize Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solutions to achieve leading-edge network resilience. Progent handles the daily monitoring and maintenance for you, so your network scales readily without holding you back. For an affordable and predictable monthly price, Progent's experienced IT team can be your dependable technology safety net. Entry-level plans include remote monitoring and management, cybersecurity, monthly patching, and documentation. As your needs grow, you can add low-cost subscriptions to best-in-class solutions such as SaaS M365/Google Workspace backup, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), pen 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 state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management (RMM) technology to keep your network running at peak levels by tracking the state of vital assets that power your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch detects an issue, an alert is transmitted automatically to your specified IT management staff and your assigned Progent engineering consultant so that all potential issues can be addressed before they have a chance to impact productivity. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop remote monitoring services.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software delivers a centralized, cloud-based solution for monitoring and managing your client-server infrastructure by offering tools for streamlining common time-consuming jobs. These can include health checking, update management, automated remediation, endpoint configuration, backup and recovery, anti-virus protection, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reporting, and debugging assistance. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM spots a serious incident, it sends an alarm to your designated IT personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so that emerging issues can be taken care of before they impact productivity. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop remote monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Management
  ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for smaller businesses to diagram, track, reconfigure and debug their networking appliances like routers and switches, firewalls, and load balancers as well as servers, client computers and other networked devices. Incorporating cutting-edge Remote Monitoring and Management technology, ProSight WAN Watch ensures that network diagrams are kept current, copies and displays the configuration information of virtually all devices on your network, monitors performance, and sends notices when issues are discovered. By automating time-consuming management and troubleshooting processes, ProSight WAN Watch can knock hours off common tasks like making network diagrams, expanding your network, finding appliances that require critical software patches, or identifying the cause of performance bottlenecks. Learn more details about ProSight WAN Watch infrastructure monitoring and management services.

• ProSight Reporting: In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding line of real-time and in-depth management reporting utilities designed to integrate with the industry's top ticketing and network monitoring platforms such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize key issues like inconsistent support follow-through or endpoints 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 (DPS): Backup and Disaster Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with leading backup technology providers to create ProSight Data Protection Services, a portfolio of subscription-based management offerings that provide backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS products manage and monitor your data backup operations and allow non-disruptive backup and rapid restoration of vital files/folders, apps, images, and VMs. ProSight DPS helps you avoid data loss caused by equipment breakdown, natural calamities, fire, malware like ransomware, human mistakes, malicious employees, or software glitches. Managed backup services in the ProSight Data Protection Services portfolio include ProSight Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight DPS ECHO Backup based on Barracuda dedicated hardware, and ProSight DPS MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent service representative can assist you to determine which of these managed services are most appropriate for your IT environment.

• ProSight Email Guard: Inbound and Outbound Spam Filtering and Data Leakage Protection
  ProSight Email Guard is Progent's spam filtering service that uses the infrastructure of top data security companies to deliver centralized management and world-class security for all your inbound and outbound email. The hybrid structure of Progent's Email Guard integrates a Cloud Protection Layer with an on-premises gateway device to offer complete protection against spam, viruses, Dos Attacks, DHAs, and other email-borne threats. The cloud filter serves as a preliminary barricade and blocks the vast majority of threats from reaching your security perimeter. This decreases your exposure to inbound threats and saves system bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's on-premises security gateway device adds a further layer of inspection for incoming email. For outgoing email, the onsite gateway offers anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, DLP, and email encryption. The on-premises security gateway can also help Exchange Server to track and protect internal email traffic that stays inside your corporate firewall. For more details, see Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight Duo Two-Factor Authentication: Access Security, Endpoint Remediation, and Protected Single Sign-on
  Progent's Duo MFA service plans utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured application and enter your password you are requested to confirm who you are on a device that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A broad range of devices can be used as this second means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

• Outsourced/Co-managed Call Center: Help Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Support Center services permit your information technology team to outsource Help Desk services to Progent or split responsibilities for support services transparently between your internal support team and Progent's nationwide roster of certified IT service engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Service provides a smooth extension of your corporate network support organization. Client interaction with the Help Desk, delivery of technical assistance, problem escalation, trouble ticket generation and updates, efficiency measurement, and management of the service database are cohesive whether incidents are taken care of by your corporate IT support group, by Progent's team, or a mix of the two. Read more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Help Desk services.

• Active Defense Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Identification and Remediation
  Progent's Active Defense Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that incorporates cutting edge behavior-based machine learning tools to guard endpoints as well as servers and VMs against new malware attacks such as ransomware and email phishing, which routinely evade traditional signature-matching AV products. Progent ASM services protect local and cloud resources and provides a unified platform to address the complete threat lifecycle including protection, infiltration detection, mitigation, cleanup, and forensics. Key features include one-click rollback with Windows VSS and real-time network-wide immunization against newly discovered attacks. Find out 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 allows you to capture, maintain, retrieve and protect data related to your IT infrastructure, procedures, applications, and services. You can quickly locate passwords or IP addresses and be alerted about upcoming expirations of SSL certificates or warranties. By updating and managing your IT infrastructure documentation, you can save up to 50% of time thrown away searching for vital information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a centralized repository for holding and collaborating on all documents related to managing your business network such as recommended procedures and self-service instructions. ProSight IT Asset Management also offers advanced automation for gathering and relating IT data. Whether you're planning enhancements, doing regular maintenance, or responding to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the data you need the instant you need it. Learn more about ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Patch Management: Software/Firmware Update Management Services
  Progent's support services for patch management provide organizations of any size a versatile and affordable alternative for assessing, validating, scheduling, implementing, and documenting updates to your dynamic information network. In addition to maximizing the protection and functionality of your IT network, Progent's patch management services allow your IT team to focus on line-of-business initiatives and activities that deliver maximum business value from your information network. Learn more about Progent's software/firmware update management support services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted VMs at Progent's World-class Data Center
  With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small business can have its critical servers and applications hosted in a secure fault tolerant data center on a high-performance virtual host set up and managed by Progent's network support professionals. With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting model, the customer owns the data, the OS software, and the apps. Because the environment is virtualized, it can be moved easily to a different hardware environment without a time-consuming and technically risky reinstallation process. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, your business is not tied one hosting service. Find out more details about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection solution that incorporates SentinelOne's next generation behavior analysis technology to guard physical and virtual endpoint devices against new malware attacks such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily get by legacy signature-based anti-virus products. ProSight Active Security Monitoring protects local and cloud resources and offers a single platform to manage the entire malware attack lifecycle including protection, detection, mitigation, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Top features include single-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and automatic network-wide immunization against newly discovered threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. Read more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware recovery.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP): Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Exchange Filtering
  ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) services offer economical multi-layer security for physical and virtual servers, desktops, mobile devices, and Exchange email. ProSight ESP uses adaptive security and advanced heuristics for continuously monitoring and reacting to cyber threats from all vectors. ProSight ESP delivers two-way firewall protection, intrusion alerts, endpoint control, and web filtering via cutting-edge tools packaged within a single agent accessible from a unified control. Progent's security and virtualization experts can help you to design and configure a ProSight ESP environment that meets your organization's unique needs and that helps you achieve and demonstrate compliance with government and industry information security regulations. Progent will assist you specify and implement policies that ProSight ESP will enforce, and Progent will monitor your network and respond to alerts that require urgent action. Progent's consultants can also help your company to set up and test a backup and restore solution like ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can get back in business quickly from a destructive security attack like ransomware. Read more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified endpoint protection and Microsoft Exchange email filtering.