24-Hour Napa Critical Crypto
Malware Damage Assessment and Remediation Consulting

Crypto-Ransomware : Your Worst Information Technology Disaster
Ransomware has become a too-frequent cyber pandemic that represents an enterprise-level danger for organizations vulnerable to an attack. Multiple generations of crypto-ransomware such as Dharma, CryptoWall, Bad Rabbit, NotPetya and MongoLock cryptoworms have been replicating for many years and still cause havoc. More recent strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Snatch or Nephilim, as well as additional as yet unnamed viruses, not only do encryption of on-line critical data but also infiltrate many available system backup. Files synchronized to cloud environments can also be ransomed. In a poorly architected data protection solution, it can render automated recovery useless and basically knocks the network back to zero.

Restoring programs and information after a ransomware event becomes a sprint against the clock as the victim fights to stop the spread, cleanup the ransomware, and restore enterprise-critical operations. Since crypto-ransomware requires time to move laterally, attacks are frequently sprung during weekends and nights, when successful penetrations typically take more time to recognize. This multiplies the difficulty of promptly marshalling and orchestrating a capable response team.

Progent has a range of support services for protecting enterprises from crypto-ransomware penetrations. These include team member education to become familiar with and not fall victim to phishing attempts, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for remote monitoring and management, in addition to deployment of next-generation security gateways with artificial intelligence capabilities from SentinelOne to identify and quarantine day-zero threats automatically. Progent in addition provides the assistance of experienced crypto-ransomware recovery consultants with the talent and commitment to restore a compromised system as urgently as possible.

Progent's Crypto-Ransomware Restoration Help
After a ransomware event, sending the ransom in cryptocurrency does not ensure that cyber hackers will provide the keys to unencrypt any or all of your data. Kaspersky estimated that seventeen percent of ransomware victims never restored their files after having sent off the ransom, resulting in more losses. The gamble is also costly. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom can be in the millions of dollars. The other path is to piece back together the essential components of your Information Technology environment. Without access to complete data backups, this calls for a broad complement of skill sets, professional project management, and the ability to work 24x7 until the job is done.

For decades, Progent has offered professional Information Technology services for companies throughout the United States and has achieved Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's group of subject matter experts includes professionals who have attained high-level industry certifications in foundation technologies including Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and popular distributions of Linux. Progent's security specialists have garnered internationally-renowned certifications including CISA, CISSP-ISSAP, CRISC, SANS GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Visit Progent's certifications). Progent also has expertise with accounting and ERP application software. This breadth of experience affords Progent the ability to quickly understand critical systems and consolidate the surviving pieces of your Information Technology environment after a ransomware attack and configure them into an operational system.

Progent's ransomware team deploys top notch project management systems to orchestrate the complicated restoration process. Progent appreciates the urgency of acting rapidly and in unison with a customer's management and Information Technology resources to assign priority to tasks and to put key applications back on-line as soon as humanly possible.

Customer Case Study: A Successful Ransomware Virus Restoration
A customer hired Progent after their company was taken over by the Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is generally considered to have been launched by North Korean government sponsored hackers, suspected of using approaches exposed from the United States NSA organization. Ryuk attacks specific companies with little room for operational disruption and is among the most profitable versions of ransomware. Well Known victims include Data Resolution, a California-based data warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a regional manufacturing business located in the Chicago metro area and has about 500 staff members. The Ryuk intrusion had brought down all company operations and manufacturing processes. The majority of the client's system backups had been online at the beginning of the attack and were destroyed. The client was pursuing financing for paying the ransom demand (in excess of $200K) and praying for the best, but in the end engaged Progent.

Progent worked together with the customer to rapidly assess and assign priority to the essential applications that had to be addressed to make it possible to continue business functions:

• Active Directory (AD)
• Electronic Mail
• Accounting and Manufacturing Software

In less than two days, Progent was able to re-build Active Directory services to its pre-intrusion state. Progent then accomplished reinstallations and hard drive recovery of needed servers. All Exchange Server ties and configuration information were usable, which greatly helped the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was also able to locate non-encrypted OST files (Microsoft Outlook Offline Data Files) on staff PCs in order to recover email messages. A not too old offline backup of the customer's accounting/MRP systems made them able to restore these required applications back on-line. Although major work was left to recover completely from the Ryuk virus, core systems were restored quickly:

During the next few weeks important milestones in the restoration project were completed through close cooperation between Progent team members and the client:

• Internal web applications were restored without losing any information.
• The MailStore Server with over four million archived messages was restored to operations and accessible to users.
• CRM/Product Ordering/Invoicing/Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivables/Inventory capabilities were 100% restored.
• A new Palo Alto Networks 850 firewall was installed and configured.
• Nearly all of the user workstations were being used by staff.

Conclusion
A likely business-killing disaster was averted through the efforts of hard-working professionals, a wide spectrum of IT skills, and tight collaboration. Although in hindsight the ransomware virus attack detailed here could have been identified and prevented with up-to-date cyber security solutions and security best practices, user and IT administrator education, and well designed security procedures for backup and applying software patches, the reality remains that government-sponsored criminal cyber gangs from China, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and will continue. If you do fall victim to a ransomware penetration, remember that Progent's roster of experts has a proven track record in ransomware virus blocking, removal, and information systems restoration.

To review or download a PDF version of this customer 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 Napa a range of online monitoring and security evaluation services to assist you to reduce your vulnerability to ransomware. These services utilize next-generation machine learning technology to uncover new strains of ransomware that can escape detection by legacy signature-based security solutions.

• ProSight Managed Service Plans: for Small to Mid-size Businesses
  Progent's ProSight Managed IT Service Plans make it practical for small and mid-size companies to utilize Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solutions to create advanced network resilience. Progent takes care of the daily monitoring and maintenance for you, so your system scales readily without becoming an obstacle. For a low and predictable monthly price, Progent's experienced IT team can be your complete technology safety net. Basic plans include remote monitoring and management, security, automatic monthly patching, and reporting. As your needs grow, you can add low-cost subscriptions to best-of-breed solutions such as SaaS M365/Google Workspace backup and restore, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), pen 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 incorporates state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management technology to keep your network operating efficiently by tracking the state of critical assets that drive your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers a problem, an alert is transmitted immediately to your designated IT management personnel and your Progent consultant so all looming problems can be resolved before they have a chance to disrupt productivity. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop remote monitoring services.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a unified, cloud-driven platform for managing your client-server infrastructure by providing an environment for streamlining common tedious tasks. These can include health monitoring, update management, automated repairs, endpoint setup, backup and recovery, anti-virus protection, secure remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reports, and debugging support. If ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM identifies a serious issue, it sends an alarm to your specified IT management personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so that emerging issues can be taken care of before they interfere with productivity. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Management
  ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it easy and affordable for small and mid-sized businesses to map out, monitor, reconfigure and troubleshoot their connectivity appliances like routers and switches, firewalls, and access points plus servers, endpoints and other devices. Incorporating cutting-edge Remote Monitoring and Management technology, WAN Watch makes sure that infrastructure topology diagrams are always current, copies and displays the configuration information of virtually all devices on your network, monitors performance, and sends alerts when potential issues are discovered. By automating tedious management processes, ProSight WAN Watch can knock hours off ordinary tasks such as making network diagrams, reconfiguring your network, finding appliances that need important software patches, or isolating performance bottlenecks. Learn more about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure management services.

• ProSight Reporting: In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Platforms
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding line of in-depth reporting tools created to work with the leading 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 spotty support follow-through or endpoints with out-of-date AVs. By identifying ticketing or network health problems concisely and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves network value, reduces 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 worked with leading backup technology companies to produce ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a selection of subscription-based offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS services automate and track your data backup operations and enable transparent backup and rapid restoration of important files, applications, system images, plus VMs. ProSight DPS lets you avoid data loss caused by equipment failures, natural disasters, fire, cyber attacks such as ransomware, human mistakes, ill-intentioned insiders, or software bugs. Managed backup services available in the ProSight Data Protection Services product family include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight DPS ECHO Backup based on Barracuda purpose-built hardware, and ProSight DPS MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent consultant can assist 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 and virus filtering and email encryption service that uses the technology of top information security companies to deliver web-based control and comprehensive security for your email traffic. The powerful architecture of Progent's Email Guard managed service integrates cloud-based filtering with a local security gateway device to offer complete defense against spam, viruses, Dos Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks, and other email-borne threats. The cloud filter acts as a preliminary barricade and keeps the vast majority of threats from making it to your network firewall. This reduces your exposure to external attacks and conserves system bandwidth and storage space. Email Guard's on-premises security gateway device provides a further layer of inspection for incoming email. For outbound email, the on-premises gateway offers AV and anti-spam protection, protection against data leaks, and email encryption. The onsite gateway can also assist Exchange Server to track and protect internal email traffic that stays within your corporate firewall. For more information, visit ProSight Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: ID Confirmation, Endpoint Remediation, and Protected Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo authentication managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are requested to confirm who you are via a unit that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A broad selection of devices can be used for this second means of authentication including a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate several validation devices. For details about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services.

• Progent's Outsourced/Shared Service Center: Support Desk Managed Services
  Progent's Call Desk services enable your IT staff to outsource Help Desk services to Progent or divide responsibilities for Help Desk services transparently between your in-house support team and Progent's extensive roster of IT support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Service provides a seamless supplement to your internal IT support organization. Client access to the Help Desk, provision of technical assistance, escalation, ticket generation and updates, efficiency metrics, and management of the support database are consistent regardless of whether issues are taken care of by your internal IT support resources, by Progent's team, or a mix of the two. Find out more about Progent's outsourced/shared Call Desk services.

• Progent Active Protection Against Ransomware: Machine Learning-based Ransomware Identification and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Defense Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection managed service that utilizes next generation behavior-based analysis tools to defend endpoints as well as servers and VMs against new malware assaults such as ransomware and email phishing, which routinely escape traditional signature-matching anti-virus products. Progent ASM services protect local and cloud resources and provides a unified platform to automate the complete malware attack lifecycle including filtering, detection, mitigation, cleanup, and forensics. Top features include single-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and automatic system-wide immunization against new attacks. Read more about Progent's ransomware protection and recovery services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service is an IT infrastructure documentation management service that makes it easy to create, update, find and safeguard information related to your network infrastructure, procedures, business apps, and services. You can instantly locate passwords or serial numbers and be warned about upcoming expirations of SSL certificates ,domains or warranties. By updating and organizing your IT documentation, you can eliminate as much as half of time spent trying to find critical information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a common repository for storing and sharing all documents related to managing your network infrastructure like standard operating procedures and self-service instructions. ProSight IT Asset Management also supports advanced automation for collecting and relating IT information. Whether you're making improvements, performing maintenance, or responding to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management gets you the data you require as soon as you need it. Find out more about Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's managed services for software and firmware patch management provide organizations of all sizes a flexible and cost-effective solution for evaluating, validating, scheduling, applying, and tracking software and firmware updates to your ever-evolving information system. Besides optimizing the protection and reliability of your computer network, Progent's software/firmware update management services permit your in-house IT team to focus on more strategic projects and activities that derive the highest business value from your information network. Read more about Progent's software/firmware update management services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted Virtual Machines at Progent's World-class Data Center
  With ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small or mid-size organization can have its key 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. With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting model, the customer owns the data, the operating system platforms, and the applications. Since the environment is virtualized, it can be ported easily to a different hardware solution without requiring a time-consuming and technically risky configuration procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not locked into a single hosting provider. Learn more details about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection solution that utilizes SentinelOne's next generation behavior analysis tools to guard physical and virtual endpoints against modern malware attacks like ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely evade legacy signature-based anti-virus products. ProSight Active Security Monitoring safeguards on-premises and cloud-based resources and provides a single platform to automate the entire threat lifecycle including filtering, infiltration detection, mitigation, remediation, and forensics. Key capabilities include one-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and automatic system-wide immunization against new threats. 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 (ESP): Physical and Virtual Endpoint Security and Microsoft Exchange Email Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) managed services offer affordable in-depth security for physical servers and virtual machines, workstations, smartphones, and Exchange email. ProSight ESP uses adaptive security and advanced heuristics for continuously monitoring and responding to security assaults from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP delivers firewall protection, intrusion alarms, device management, and web filtering via cutting-edge tools packaged within one agent managed from a single console. Progent's data protection and virtualization experts can help you to design and configure a ProSight ESP environment that addresses your organization's specific requirements and that helps you prove compliance with government and industry information protection regulations. Progent will help you specify and implement policies that ProSight ESP will enforce, and Progent will monitor your network and respond to alarms that require immediate action. Progent's consultants can also assist your company to install and test a backup and restore solution such as ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can get back in business quickly from a destructive security attack such as ransomware. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified physical and virtual endpoint security and Microsoft Exchange filtering.