Ransomware Prevention and Recovery Solutions Jundiaí
Ransomware Remediation: An Example
Crypto-Ransomware : Your Crippling Information Technology Catastrophe
Ransomware has become a modern cyber pandemic that presents an enterprise-level threat for businesses poorly prepared for an assault. Multiple generations of crypto-ransomware such as Reveton, Fusob, Bad Rabbit, Syskey and MongoLock cryptoworms have been circulating for many years and still inflict havoc. More recent variants of crypto-ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, LockBit and Egregor, as well as additional unnamed newcomers, not only perform encryption of online data files but also infect all accessible system protection mechanisms. Files replicated to the cloud can also be corrupted. In a poorly designed data protection solution, this can render automated recovery impossible and effectively knocks the network back to square one.
Retrieving applications and data after a crypto-ransomware attack becomes a sprint against time as the victim struggles to contain the damage, clear the ransomware, and restore mission-critical activity. Because ransomware needs time to replicate across a network, assaults are often sprung on weekends and holidays, when attacks typically take more time to detect. This multiplies the difficulty of rapidly mobilizing and organizing a knowledgeable response team.
Progent provides a variety of support services for securing Jundiaí organizations from ransomware attacks. These include team member training to help identify and avoid phishing exploits, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for endpoint detection and response (EDR) using SentinelOne's behavior-based cyberthreat protection to discover and quarantine day-zero malware attacks. Progent also provides the assistance of experienced ransomware recovery engineers with the track record and perseverance to re-deploy a breached environment as urgently as possible.
Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Recovery Services
Soon after a crypto-ransomware invasion, sending the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not provide any assurance that criminal gangs will return the codes to decipher any or all of your data. Kaspersky Labs ascertained that 17% of crypto-ransomware victims never recovered their data after having paid the ransom, resulting in increased losses. The gamble is also expensive. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can reach millions. The fallback is to setup from scratch the essential elements of your Information Technology environment. Absent access to full system backups, this requires a broad range of skills, professional team management, and the capability to work continuously until the task is finished.
For decades, Progent has made available professional IT services for businesses across the United States and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's pool of subject matter experts includes engineers who have been awarded advanced industry certifications in foundation technologies including Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's cybersecurity engineers have garnered internationally-recognized industry certifications including CISM, CISSP, CRISC, SANS GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent also has expertise in accounting and ERP applications. This breadth of experience provides Progent the ability to knowledgably identify critical systems and consolidate the surviving pieces of your Information Technology environment after a ransomware event and assemble them into an operational system.
Progent's ransomware team has top notch project management systems to orchestrate the sophisticated recovery process. Progent appreciates the importance of working quickly and in concert with a customer's management and Information Technology resources to assign priority to tasks and to get essential applications back online as fast as possible.
Client Story: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Intrusion Restoration
A client hired Progent after their network was crashed by the Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is thought to have been deployed by North Korean state cybercriminals, suspected of adopting technology leaked from the United States National Security Agency. Ryuk seeks specific companies with limited tolerance for operational disruption and is among the most lucrative incarnations of crypto-ransomware. Major organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based data warehousing and cloud computing company, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a small manufacturing company located in Chicago and has about 500 employees. The Ryuk attack had brought down all company operations and manufacturing capabilities. The majority of the client's backups had been online at the beginning of the intrusion and were encrypted. The client was pursuing financing for paying the ransom demand (more than $200,000) and praying for the best, but in the end made the decision to use Progent.
Progent worked hand in hand the customer to rapidly understand and assign priority to the mission critical services that needed to be recovered in order to restart departmental operations:
- Windows Active Directory
- Exchange Server
- MRP System
Within two days, Progent was able to re-build Active Directory to its pre-attack state. Progent then charged ahead with setup and hard drive recovery of key applications. All Microsoft Exchange Server schema and configuration information were usable, which greatly helped the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was able to assemble intact OST files (Outlook Offline Data Files) on user workstations in order to recover email messages. A not too old offline backup of the businesses accounting systems made them able to recover these required applications back online for users. Although a large amount of work needed to be completed to recover completely from the Ryuk virus, critical systems were returned to operations quickly:
Over the following month important milestones in the recovery project were completed through close collaboration between Progent team members and the client:
- Self-hosted web applications were restored without losing any data.
- The MailStore Server containing more than four million archived emails was restored to operations and accessible to users.
- CRM/Customer Orders/Invoicing/AP/AR/Inventory modules were completely restored.
- A new Palo Alto Networks 850 firewall was set up and programmed.
- Ninety percent of the user desktops were back into operation.
Conclusion
A potential business-killing disaster was evaded through the efforts of top-tier professionals, a wide range of technical expertise, and close teamwork. Although in retrospect the ransomware virus attack detailed here should have been prevented with up-to-date security technology and NIST Cybersecurity Framework best practices, team education, and appropriate incident response procedures for information protection and proper patching controls, the fact is that government-sponsored cybercriminals from Russia, China and elsewhere are tireless and are not going away. If you do get hit by a crypto-ransomware attack, feel confident that Progent's roster of experts has a proven track record in ransomware virus defense, remediation, and information systems disaster recovery.
Download the Crypto-Ransomware Cleanup Case Study Datasheet
To review or download a PDF version of this customer story, please click:
Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Incident Recovery Case Study Datasheet. (PDF - 282 KB)
Contact Progent for Ransomware Recovery Expertise in Jundiaí
For ransomware system restoration consulting in the Jundiaí metro area, phone Progent at
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