Ipanema 24-7 Immediate Crypto
Malware Detection and Restoration Support

Ransomware : Your Crippling Information Technology Nightmare
Ransomware has become an escalating cyberplague that represents an existential danger for businesses poorly prepared for an attack. Different versions of ransomware such as CryptoLocker, CryptoWall, Locky, Syskey and MongoLock cryptoworms have been out in the wild for many years and still cause damage. More recent strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Snatch or Nephilim, plus more unnamed malware, not only encrypt online data but also infiltrate all available system protection mechanisms. Data replicated to cloud environments can also be encrypted. In a vulnerable data protection solution, this can render any recovery useless and effectively knocks the network back to square one.

Getting back programs and information following a ransomware intrusion becomes a sprint against the clock as the targeted business struggles to contain the damage, clear the ransomware, and resume enterprise-critical activity. Because ransomware needs time to replicate, attacks are usually sprung on weekends, when attacks in many cases take more time to recognize. This multiplies the difficulty of promptly assembling and orchestrating an experienced mitigation team.

Progent makes available a variety of solutions for protecting businesses from ransomware penetrations. Among these are team education to help recognize and avoid phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, plus deployment of next-generation security appliances with AI technology from SentinelOne to identify and quarantine zero-day cyber attacks rapidly. Progent in addition provides the assistance of experienced crypto-ransomware recovery professionals with the track record and commitment to reconstruct a breached environment as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Restoration Help
After a ransomware attack, sending the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not provide any assurance that cyber criminals will provide the codes to unencrypt any or all of your information. Kaspersky ascertained that 17% of crypto-ransomware victims never restored their data even after having paid the ransom, resulting in more losses. The gamble is also expensive. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can be in the millions of dollars. The alternative is to piece back together the critical components of your IT environment. Absent access to essential data backups, this requires a wide complement of skill sets, well-coordinated project management, and the willingness to work non-stop until the recovery project is done.

For two decades, Progent has provided expert IT services for companies across the United States 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 certifications in foundation technologies such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's security engineers have garnered internationally-renowned industry certifications including CISA, CISSP, CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent also has expertise with financial systems and ERP applications. This breadth of expertise provides Progent the capability to efficiently understand necessary systems and consolidate the remaining parts of your network system after a ransomware attack and assemble them into an operational network.

Progent's security group has powerful project management applications to orchestrate the complex recovery process. Progent appreciates the importance of acting swiftly and together with a client's management and Information Technology team members to prioritize tasks and to get critical systems back online as soon as humanly possible.

Client Story: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Penetration Response
A client contacted Progent after their network was penetrated by the Ryuk ransomware virus. Ryuk is thought to have been launched by North Korean state sponsored cybercriminals, possibly adopting techniques leaked from the United States NSA organization. Ryuk goes after specific companies with little or no tolerance for disruption and is one of the most lucrative iterations of crypto-ransomware. High publicized organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing company, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's customer is a single-location manufacturing company based in Chicago and has about 500 employees. The Ryuk event had shut down all company operations and manufacturing capabilities. The majority of the client's data protection had been online at the time of the attack and were damaged. The client was actively seeking loans for paying the ransom demand (in excess of two hundred thousand dollars) and praying for good luck, but in the end called Progent.

Progent worked with the customer to rapidly determine and prioritize the critical systems that needed to be recovered in order to resume departmental operations:

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

In less than two days, Progent was able to recover Windows Active Directory to its pre-attack state. Progent then accomplished setup and hard drive recovery on mission critical servers. All Exchange ties and configuration information were intact, which facilitated the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was also able to assemble non-encrypted OST data files (Outlook Email Offline Folder Files) on various PCs and laptops in order to recover mail information. A recent off-line backup of the businesses financials/ERP systems made them able to restore these essential applications back online for users. Although a large amount of work was left to recover completely from the Ryuk event, core services were returned to operations quickly:

Over the next couple of weeks critical milestones in the restoration process were achieved in tight collaboration between Progent consultants and the customer:

• Internal web sites were returned to operation with no loss of data.
• The MailStore Exchange Server with over four million historical messages was restored to operations and available for users.
• CRM/Customer Orders/Invoices/Accounts Payable/AR/Inventory Control functions were 100% recovered.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was installed.
• 90% of the user desktops were operational.

Conclusion
A possible business-killing disaster was averted through the efforts of hard-working experts, a wide spectrum of technical expertise, and close collaboration. Although in post mortem the ransomware virus incident detailed here would have been prevented with modern security solutions and security best practices, user and IT administrator training, and properly executed incident response procedures for data protection and proper patching controls, the reality is that state-sponsored hackers from China, Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are relentless and are not going away. If you do fall victim to a crypto-ransomware virus, feel confident that Progent's team of professionals has a proven track record in crypto-ransomware virus defense, removal, and file restoration.

To review or download a PDF version of this customer story, click:
Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Virus Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)

Additional Ransomware Protection Services Available from Progent
Progent can provide businesses in Ipanema a range of online monitoring and security assessment services to assist you to reduce the threat from crypto-ransomware. These services utilize modern artificial intelligence technology to detect new variants of crypto-ransomware that can get past 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 utilize Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solutions to achieve advanced network resilience. Progent handles the necessary monitoring and maintenance for you, so your system expands smoothly without holding you back. For a low and predictable monthly subscription, Progent's experienced IT group can be your complete technology safety net. Basic plans include RMM, cybersecurity, monthly patching, and documentation. As your needs grow, you can add low-cost subscriptions to advanced solutions like as SaaS M365/Google Workspace backup, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), penetration testing, or WiFi management.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Remote Monitoring and Management
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop monitoring managed service that uses advanced remote monitoring and management (RMM) technology to keep your network running at peak levels by checking the health of vital computers that drive your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch detects an issue, an alarm is transmitted automatically to your specified IT management staff and your Progent engineering consultant so that any looming problems can be addressed 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: Unified RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a centralized, cloud-driven solution for monitoring and managing your network, server, and desktop devices by providing tools for streamlining common time-consuming jobs. These can include health checking, patch management, automated remediation, endpoint configuration, backup and recovery, anti-virus defense, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reports, and debugging support. If ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM uncovers a serious issue, it sends an alert to your designated IT management personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so emerging problems can be fixed before they interfere with your network. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Remote Monitoring and Management
  ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for small and mid-sized organizations to map out, track, reconfigure and troubleshoot their connectivity appliances like routers, firewalls, and wireless controllers as well as servers, client computers and other devices. Using cutting-edge RMM technology, ProSight WAN Watch makes sure that infrastructure topology diagrams are always current, captures and manages the configuration of almost all devices connected to your network, monitors performance, and sends alerts when problems are detected. By automating tedious management processes, ProSight WAN Watch can cut hours off common tasks such as making network diagrams, expanding your network, locating devices that require important software patches, or isolating performance issues. Find out more about ProSight WAN Watch infrastructure management services.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding family of in-depth management reporting plug-ins created to integrate with the industry's top ticketing and remote network monitoring platforms such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting incorporates Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize critical issues such as inconsistent support follow-through or endpoints with out-of-date AVs. By exposing ticketing or network health concerns concisely and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves productivity, reduces management overhead, and saves money. For more information, see ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring applications.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Backup and Recovery Services
  Progent has worked with leading backup technology providers to create ProSight Data Protection Services, a selection of management offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS services automate and monitor your data backup operations and allow non-disruptive backup and fast restoration of vital files/folders, applications, system images, and virtual machines. ProSight DPS lets you recover from data loss resulting from equipment breakdown, natural disasters, fire, cyber attacks such as ransomware, user error, ill-intentioned employees, or software bugs. Managed backup services available in the ProSight Data Protection Services portfolio include ProSight Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight ECHO Backup based on Barracuda dedicated storage, and ProSight DPS MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent service representative can help you to determine which of these fully 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 service that uses the infrastructure of top data security companies to deliver centralized management and comprehensive protection for your email traffic. The hybrid architecture of Progent's 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-borne threats. The Cloud Protection Layer acts as a first line of defense and blocks most unwanted email from reaching your network firewall. This reduces your exposure to inbound threats and conserves network bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's onsite security gateway appliance provides a further layer of analysis for inbound email. For outbound email, the onsite gateway offers anti-virus and anti-spam protection, policy-based Data Loss Prevention, and email encryption. The onsite gateway can also help Exchange Server to track and safeguard internal email traffic that originates and ends within your corporate firewall. For more information, see Email Guard spam and content filtering.

• ProSight Duo Two-Factor Authentication: ID Confirmation, Endpoint Policy Enforcement, and Secure Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo MFA service plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you log into a secured application and give your password you are requested to confirm who you are on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A broad selection of devices can be utilized for this second form of authentication such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can register several verification devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services.

• Progent's Outsourced/Shared Help Center: Help Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Call Desk services permit your IT group to offload Help Desk services to Progent or divide responsibilities for support services transparently between your internal support resources and Progent's nationwide pool of IT service engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Progent's Co-managed Service Desk provides a transparent extension of your internal IT support group. End user interaction with the Help Desk, delivery of support, escalation, trouble ticket creation and tracking, efficiency measurement, and management of the support database are cohesive regardless of whether issues are taken care of by your corporate network support group, by Progent, or by a combination. Learn more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Service Center services.

• Active Defense Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Identification and Remediation
  Progent's Active Protection Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection solution that incorporates cutting edge behavior machine learning tools to guard endpoint devices and servers and VMs against modern malware assaults like ransomware and email phishing, which routinely get by legacy signature-matching anti-virus tools. Progent Active Security Monitoring services safeguard on-premises and cloud resources and provides a single platform to automate the complete malware attack progression including filtering, infiltration detection, containment, remediation, and forensics. Key capabilities include one-click rollback with Windows VSS and real-time system-wide immunization against new threats. Find out more about Progent's ransomware defense 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, maintain, retrieve and safeguard data related to your IT infrastructure, processes, business apps, and services. You can quickly find passwords or IP addresses and be warned automatically about upcoming expirations of SSL certificates or domains. By cleaning up and organizing your IT documentation, you can save up to half of time thrown away trying to find critical information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a common location for holding and collaborating on all documents required for managing your network infrastructure like standard operating procedures (SOPs) and self-service instructions. ProSight IT Asset Management also offers a high level of automation for collecting and associating IT data. Whether you're making enhancements, performing maintenance, or responding to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management gets you the information you require the instant you need it. Find out more about Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's support services for software and firmware patch management provide organizations of any size a versatile and cost-effective solution for evaluating, testing, scheduling, implementing, and documenting updates to your dynamic IT network. In addition to maximizing the protection and reliability of your computer network, Progent's patch management services allow your IT team to focus on line-of-business projects and tasks that derive the highest business value from your information network. Read more about Progent's patch management support services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted VMs at Progent's World-class Data Center
  With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small organization can have its critical servers and applications hosted in a secure Tier III data center on a high-performance virtual machine host set up and maintained by Progent's IT support professionals. Under the ProSight Virtual Hosting service model, the client retains ownership of the data, the operating system software, and the applications. Because the environment is virtualized, it can be moved easily to a different hosting environment without a time-consuming and technically risky reinstallation procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, your business is not locked into one hosting provider. Learn more about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) is an endpoint protection (EPP) solution that utilizes SentinelOne's next generation behavior-based machine learning technology to defend physical and virtual endpoint devices against new malware attacks like ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely get by legacy signature-based AV tools. ProSight ASM protects local and cloud-based resources and provides a unified platform to address the complete malware attack lifecycle including filtering, infiltration detection, mitigation, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Key features include single-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and real-time system-wide immunization against new threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring endpoint protection and ransomware defense.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection: Physical and Virtual Endpoint Security and Exchange Email Filtering
  ProSight Enhanced Security Protection managed services offer affordable multi-layer protection for physical servers and VMs, desktops, mobile devices, and Exchange Server. ProSight ESP utilizes adaptive security and advanced machine learning for continuously monitoring and responding to cyber threats from all vectors. ProSight ESP provides firewall protection, penetration alarms, endpoint control, and web filtering via cutting-edge tools packaged within one agent managed from a unified control. Progent's data protection and virtualization consultants can assist you to design and implement a ProSight ESP deployment that addresses your company's specific needs and that helps you achieve and demonstrate compliance with government and industry data security regulations. Progent will help you specify and implement policies that ProSight ESP will enforce, and Progent will monitor your network and react to alarms that require immediate action. Progent's consultants can also assist you to set up and test a backup and disaster recovery solution like ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can recover rapidly from a destructive security attack like ransomware. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified endpoint security and Microsoft Exchange filtering.