Knoxville Ransomware Filtering and Cleanup Expertise

Ransomware has been weaponized by the major cyber-crime organizations and rogue states, posing a potentially existential threat to companies that fall victim. Modern strains of crypto-ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial recovery a long and expensive process. Novel variations of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, Conti and Egregor have made the headlines, replacing Locky, TeslaCrypt, and CryptoWall in prominence, sophistication, and destructiveness.

Most ransomware breaches come from innocuous-looking emails that include malicious links or attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" variants that elude the defenses of legacy signature-matching antivirus (AV) tools. Although user training and up-front identification are critical to defend against ransomware attacks, best practices demand that you assume some malware will eventually succeed and that you put in place a solid backup mechanism that allows you to repair the damage rapidly with minimal damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Checkup is an ultra-affordable service centered around a remote discussion with a Progent cybersecurity expert skilled in ransomware protection and recovery. During this interview Progent will work directly with your Knoxville network managers to collect pertinent data about your security posture and backup processes. Progent will use this data to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment detailing how to adhere to leading practices for configuring and administering your security and backup solution to prevent or clean up after a crypto-ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report focuses on vital areas related to ransomware prevention and restoration recovery. The report covers:

Cybersecurity

• Effective use of administration accounts
• Appropriate NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) authorizations
• Proper firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol connections
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) filtering identification and deployment

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Protecting critical servers including Active Directory
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malicious software that encrypts or steals files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the target is required to pay a specified ransom, typically in the form of a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a brief time window. It is not guaranteed that paying the extortion price will restore the lost files or avoid its publication. Files can be encrypted or deleted across a network depending on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot solve the strong encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A common ransomware attack vector is tainted email, whereby the target is tricked into interacting with by a social engineering technique known as spear phishing. This makes the email to appear to come from a familiar source. Another popular attack vector is an improperly protected Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the damage caused by different versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, roughly doubling every other year. Famous attacks are WannaCry, and Petya. Current high-profile variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and TeslaCrypt are more complex and have wreaked more damage than older versions. Even if your backup procedures allow you to restore your encrypted data, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where stolen data are exposed to the public. Because additional versions of ransomware crop up daily, there is no certainty that conventional signature-based anti-virus tools will block the latest malware. If an attack does appear in an email, it is critical that your users have been taught to be aware of social engineering tricks. Your last line of protection is a solid process for scheduling and keeping remote backups plus the use of reliable recovery platforms.

Contact Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Evaluation in Knoxville
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Susceptibility Audit can bolster your protection against crypto-ransomware in Knoxville, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.