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Computer Virus Assessment and Remediation Help

Ransomware : Your Feared IT Nightmare
Ransomware has become a too-frequent cyberplague that poses an existential danger for organizations unprepared for an attack. Different iterations of ransomware such as Reveton, Fusob, Locky, Syskey and MongoLock cryptoworms have been replicating for many years and still inflict destruction. More recent variants of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Snatch or Nephilim, as well as daily unnamed newcomers, not only do encryption of on-line information but also infect many available system backup. Information synched to cloud environments can also be corrupted. In a vulnerable data protection solution, it can make any recovery impossible and effectively sets the datacenter back to zero.

Recovering services and data following a ransomware attack becomes a sprint against time as the targeted organization fights to contain, clear the ransomware, and resume business-critical activity. Since ransomware needs time to move laterally, penetrations are often launched on weekends, when successful penetrations typically take longer to recognize. This multiplies the difficulty of promptly assembling and organizing a knowledgeable response team.

Progent has a range of help services for protecting organizations from ransomware attacks. Among these are team training to become familiar with and not fall victim to phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) for remote monitoring and management, in addition to setup and configuration of next-generation security appliances with artificial intelligence technology from SentinelOne to discover and quarantine day-zero cyber attacks quickly. Progent also offers the services of veteran ransomware recovery professionals with the talent and commitment to restore a breached network as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Recovery Help
After a ransomware event, sending the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not guarantee that criminal gangs will respond with the needed keys to unencrypt all your information. Kaspersky Labs ascertained that 17% of ransomware victims never recovered their data even after having paid the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The gamble is also very costly. Ryuk ransoms are typically a few hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom can be in the millions. The other path is to re-install the essential elements of your IT environment. Absent the availability of full system backups, this calls for a wide range of IT skills, professional team management, and the capability to work 24x7 until the job is completed.

For twenty years, Progent has offered expert IT services for companies throughout 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 engineers who have earned advanced certifications in important technologies such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's cyber security consultants have garnered internationally-recognized certifications including CISM, CISSP, CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Refer to Progent's certifications). Progent also has expertise with financial systems and ERP application software. This breadth of expertise affords Progent the capability to rapidly determine important systems and organize the remaining pieces of your computer network environment following a ransomware event and configure them into a functioning system.

Progent's security team uses top notch project management applications to orchestrate the sophisticated restoration process. Progent understands the urgency of working rapidly and in unison with a customer's management and IT team members to assign priority to tasks and to get key systems back online as fast as humanly possible.

Customer Story: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Virus Recovery
A customer contacted Progent after their network was brought down by Ryuk crypto-ransomware. Ryuk is generally considered to have been developed by North Korean state cybercriminals, possibly using technology exposed from the United States National Security Agency. Ryuk goes after specific businesses with little ability to sustain disruption and is among the most lucrative incarnations of ransomware. Well Known organizations include Data Resolution, a California-based info warehousing and cloud computing business, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's customer is a single-location manufacturing company based in Chicago and has about 500 workers. The Ryuk penetration had brought down all business operations and manufacturing capabilities. The majority of the client's backups had been on-line at the beginning of the intrusion and were destroyed. The client was evaluating paying the ransom demand (more than $200K) and praying for good luck, but ultimately engaged Progent.

Progent worked with the client to quickly understand and assign priority to the mission critical systems that had to be recovered to make it possible to resume company operations:

• Microsoft Active Directory
• Microsoft Exchange Server
• Accounting/MRP

Within 48 hours, Progent was able to restore Active Directory services to its pre-penetration state. Progent then initiated setup and hard drive recovery on needed systems. All Exchange Server schema and attributes were usable, which accelerated the restore of Exchange. Progent was also able to locate local OST files (Microsoft Outlook Offline Data Files) on staff desktop computers in order to recover email data. A recent off-line backup of the businesses accounting systems made them able to restore these essential programs back online for users. Although a large amount of work needed to be completed to recover totally from the Ryuk attack, essential services were restored rapidly:

Over the following few weeks critical milestones in the recovery process were achieved through close cooperation between Progent engineers and the client:

• Internal web sites were restored with no loss of information.
• The MailStore Microsoft Exchange Server containing more than 4 million archived messages was brought on-line and accessible to users.
• CRM/Product Ordering/Invoicing/Accounts Payable (AP)/Accounts Receivables (AR)/Inventory functions were fully functional.
• A new Palo Alto 850 security appliance was brought on-line.
• Ninety percent of the user PCs were back into operation.

Conclusion
A likely business disaster was avoided through the efforts of results-oriented experts, a wide range of subject matter expertise, and tight collaboration. Although in hindsight the crypto-ransomware virus attack detailed here would have been disabled with modern security technology and NIST Cybersecurity Framework best practices, user training, and well designed security procedures for data backup and applying software patches, the reality remains that government-sponsored hackers from Russia, China and elsewhere are tireless and represent an ongoing threat. If you do fall victim to a ransomware incursion, remember that Progent's roster of professionals has proven experience in crypto-ransomware virus defense, mitigation, and data recovery.

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

Additional Crypto-Ransomware Protection Services Offered by Progent
Progent offers companies in Lexington-Fayette a portfolio of remote monitoring and security assessment services to help you to minimize your vulnerability to crypto-ransomware. These services utilize modern artificial intelligence technology to detect new strains of ransomware that are able to evade legacy signature-based security solutions.

• ProSight Managed Service Plans: for Small to Mid-size Businesses
  Progent's ProSight Managed IT Service Packages make it possible for small and mid-size businesses to utilize Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solutions to create advanced IT resilience. Progent handles the daily monitoring and maintenance for you, so your network scales readily without holding you back. For a low and predictable monthly price, Progent's full-service IT group can be your dependable technology safety net. Entry-level plans include RMM, security, monthly patching, and documentation. As your requirements expand, 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 Remote Monitoring and Management
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop remote monitoring service that incorporates state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management techniques to keep your IT system operating efficiently by checking the health of vital assets that power your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch detects an issue, an alarm is sent automatically to your specified IT management personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so that any potential issues can be addressed before they can impact productivity. Find out more details about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop remote monitoring consulting.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software delivers a unified, cloud-based platform for monitoring and managing your client-server infrastructure by offering tools for performing common time-consuming tasks. These can include health monitoring, patch management, automated repairs, endpoint setup, backup and restore, anti-virus response, secure remote access, standard and custom scripts, resource inventory, endpoint status reports, and troubleshooting help. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM identifies a serious problem, it transmits an alarm to your designated IT personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so that potential problems can be fixed before they interfere with your network. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Infrastructure Remote Monitoring and Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for smaller businesses to diagram, monitor, enhance and debug their connectivity hardware such as routers and switches, firewalls, and access points as well as servers, printers, client computers and other networked devices. Incorporating cutting-edge Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) technology, ProSight WAN Watch makes sure that network maps are always current, copies and displays the configuration of almost all devices connected to your network, tracks performance, and generates alerts when potential issues are discovered. By automating time-consuming management activities, ProSight WAN Watch can knock hours off common chores such as making network diagrams, expanding your network, finding appliances that require critical updates, or resolving performance problems. Find out more about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure management services.

• ProSight Reporting: In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding suite of real-time and in-depth reporting plug-ins designed to integrate with the industry's leading ticketing and remote network monitoring applications such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to surface and contextualize critical issues like inconsistent support follow-through or endpoints with missing patches. By identifying ticketing or network health concerns clearly and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting enhances productivity, reduces management overhead, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring platforms.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Managed Backup and Recovery Services
  Progent has worked with advanced backup technology providers to produce ProSight Data Protection Services, a selection of subscription-based management outsourcing plans that provide backup-as-a-service (BaaS). ProSight DPS services automate and monitor your backup processes and enable transparent backup and fast recovery of vital files/folders, apps, system images, plus virtual machines. ProSight DPS helps your business recover from data loss resulting from equipment breakdown, natural calamities, fire, malware like ransomware, user error, malicious insiders, or software glitches. Managed backup services in the ProSight DPS product family include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight DPS ECHO Backup using Barracuda dedicated hardware, and ProSight MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent service representative can assist you to identify which of these managed backup services are most appropriate 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 infrastructure of leading information security companies to deliver web-based control and comprehensive protection for your inbound and outbound email. The powerful structure of Email Guard managed service integrates cloud-based filtering with a local security gateway device to offer complete defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, DHAs, and other email-borne malware. Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer acts as a preliminary barricade and blocks most threats from reaching your network firewall. This decreases your exposure to external threats and conserves network bandwidth and storage space. Email Guard's on-premises security gateway device adds a further layer of inspection for incoming email. For outgoing email, the onsite security gateway offers AV and anti-spam protection, DLP, and email encryption. The local security gateway can also help Microsoft Exchange Server to monitor and safeguard internal email that stays inside your corporate firewall. For more information, see Email Guard spam and content filtering.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: Access Security, Endpoint Policy Enforcement, and Secure Single Sign-on
  Progent's Duo MFA managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation on iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a protected online account and give your password you are requested to confirm who you are via a device that only you have and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be used for this added form of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity authentication services, go to Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for access security.

• Progent's Outsourced/Shared Service Desk: Call Center Managed Services
  Progent's Call Center services enable your information technology group to outsource Support Desk services to Progent or split activity for Service Desk support transparently between your internal network support team and Progent's nationwide roster of certified IT service engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Progent's Shared Service Desk provides a transparent extension of your corporate support organization. End user access to the Help Desk, provision of support, escalation, ticket creation and updates, efficiency metrics, and maintenance of the support database are consistent regardless of whether incidents are resolved by your corporate IT support resources, by Progent, or both. Learn more about Progent's outsourced/shared Call Center services.

• Active Defense Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Detection and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Protection Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection managed service that incorporates next generation behavior machine learning technology to guard endpoint devices as well as servers and VMs against new malware assaults like ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily evade legacy signature-based anti-virus tools. Progent Active Security Monitoring services protect local and cloud resources and provides a unified platform to manage the complete threat progression including blocking, detection, containment, cleanup, and forensics. Top capabilities include single-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and automatic network-wide immunization against new threats. Read 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 allows you to capture, maintain, find and safeguard information about your network infrastructure, procedures, business apps, and services. You can instantly locate passwords or serial numbers and be alerted automatically about impending expirations of SSLs or warranties. By updating and managing your network documentation, you can eliminate as much as half of time wasted looking for critical information about your IT network. ProSight IT Asset Management includes a common location for holding and collaborating on all documents related to managing your network infrastructure like standard operating procedures 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 improvements, doing maintenance, or reacting to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the information you need the instant you need it. Read more about ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's managed services for patch management provide organizations of all sizes a flexible and affordable solution for evaluating, testing, scheduling, implementing, and documenting software and firmware updates to your dynamic information system. In addition to optimizing the protection and functionality of your computer environment, Progent's software/firmware update management services allow your in-house IT staff to focus on more strategic projects and activities that derive maximum business value from your information network. Read more about Progent's software/firmware update management services.

• ProSight Virtual Hosting: Hosted VMs at Progent's Tier III Data Center
  With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small or mid-size organization can have its critical servers and apps hosted in a protected fault tolerant data center on a high-performance virtual host configured and maintained by Progent's IT support professionals. Under the ProSight Virtual Hosting service model, the customer owns the data, the operating system software, and the applications. Since the system is virtualized, it can be moved easily to a different hosting environment without a time-consuming and technically risky reinstallation process. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not tied one hosting service. Learn more 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-based analysis tools to guard physical and virtual endpoints against modern malware assaults like ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily get by legacy signature-based AV tools. ProSight Active Security Monitoring safeguards local and cloud-based resources and offers a single platform to address the complete malware attack progression including blocking, detection, containment, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Key features include single-click rollback using Windows VSS and automatic network-wide immunization against new threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection: Endpoint Security and Exchange Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) services deliver affordable multi-layer protection for physical and virtual servers, desktops, smartphones, and Exchange Server. ProSight ESP utilizes contextual security and modern behavior analysis for round-the-clock monitoring and responding to cyber assaults from all vectors. ProSight ESP delivers firewall protection, intrusion alerts, endpoint management, and web filtering via cutting-edge tools packaged within a single agent managed from a unified console. Progent's data protection and virtualization consultants can assist your business to plan and configure a ProSight ESP environment that meets your organization's unique requirements and that helps you demonstrate compliance with government and industry data security regulations. Progent will help you define and configure policies that ProSight ESP will enforce, and Progent will monitor your network and respond to alarms that require immediate action. Progent can also assist your company to set up and verify a backup and disaster recovery solution like ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can get back in business quickly from a potentially disastrous cyber attack like ransomware. Read more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) unified endpoint security and Microsoft Exchange email filtering.