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Ransomware : Your Worst IT Disaster
Ransomware has become a too-frequent cyber pandemic that represents an enterprise-level threat for organizations poorly prepared for an assault. Different iterations of ransomware like the Reveton, Fusob, Bad Rabbit, NotPetya and MongoLock cryptoworms have been replicating for a long time and continue to inflict havoc. Newer variants of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Conti or Nephilim, plus more as yet unnamed viruses, not only do encryption of on-line information but also infect any accessible system backup. Data synchronized to the cloud can also be corrupted. In a poorly designed system, this can make automatic restore operations useless and basically sets the entire system back to square one.

Recovering applications and data following a ransomware event becomes a race against the clock as the targeted organization tries its best to stop the spread, clear the ransomware, and resume business-critical operations. Since ransomware requires time to spread, penetrations are often launched at night, when penetrations typically take longer to discover. This multiplies the difficulty of promptly assembling and coordinating a qualified mitigation team.

Progent has an assortment of solutions for securing businesses from ransomware penetrations. These include team member education to help identify and not fall victim to phishing scams, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, plus setup and configuration of next-generation security appliances with AI capabilities from SentinelOne to discover and extinguish new cyber threats automatically. Progent also provides the assistance of veteran ransomware recovery engineers with the track record and perseverance to restore a breached environment as quickly as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Recovery Services
Subsequent to a ransomware attack, even paying the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not provide any assurance that distant criminals will respond with the codes to unencrypt any or all of your files. Kaspersky estimated that seventeen percent of ransomware victims never recovered their files after having sent off the ransom, resulting in additional losses. The gamble is also expensive. Ryuk ransoms are often several hundred thousand dollars. For larger organizations, the ransom demand can reach millions. The fallback is to piece back together the essential elements of your IT environment. Without access to complete information backups, this calls for a broad range of skill sets, professional project management, and the capability to work 24x7 until the recovery project is over.

For twenty years, Progent has provided certified expert IT services for companies across the U.S. and has earned Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's pool of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes professionals who have been awarded top certifications in key technologies like Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's security engineers have garnered internationally-renowned certifications including CISA, CISSP, CRISC, SANS GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (Visit Progent's certifications). Progent also has expertise in financial management and ERP applications. This breadth of expertise affords Progent the capability to quickly understand critical systems and organize the surviving pieces of your Information Technology environment following a crypto-ransomware event and rebuild them into a functioning network.

Progent's recovery team of experts has best of breed project management systems to orchestrate the sophisticated restoration process. Progent appreciates the urgency of acting quickly and in concert with a client's management and Information Technology team members to assign priority to tasks and to get essential systems back on line as soon as possible.

Business Case Study: A Successful Crypto-Ransomware Penetration Restoration
A business sought out Progent after their organization was penetrated by the Ryuk ransomware virus. Ryuk is believed to have been created by Northern Korean state hackers, possibly using techniques leaked from the U.S. NSA organization. Ryuk attacks specific companies with little room for disruption and is among the most lucrative instances of crypto-ransomware. Well Known victims include Data Resolution, a California-based information warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a regional manufacturer headquartered in the Chicago metro area with about 500 staff members. The Ryuk penetration had paralyzed all essential operations and manufacturing processes. The majority of the client's information backups had been online at the beginning of the attack and were encrypted. The client was pursuing financing for paying the ransom (in excess of $200K) and wishfully thinking for good luck, but in the end utilized Progent.

Progent worked together with the client to rapidly get our arms around and prioritize the essential elements that had to be addressed to make it possible to restart business operations:

• Active Directory
• Email
• Financials/MRP

In less than two days, Progent was able to re-build Windows Active Directory to its pre-penetration state. Progent then completed reinstallations and hard drive recovery of needed servers. All Exchange data and configuration information were usable, which accelerated the restore of Exchange. Progent was also able to collect local OST data files (Microsoft Outlook Offline Folder Files) on staff workstations in order to recover email information. A recent offline backup of the client's financials/MRP systems made them able to restore these vital services back online. Although a large amount of work needed to be completed to recover completely from the Ryuk attack, critical systems were recovered rapidly:

Over the next couple of weeks key milestones in the restoration project were made in close collaboration between Progent team members and the client:

• Internal web sites were returned to operation without losing any information.
• The MailStore Server exceeding 4 million historical messages was spun up and available for users.
• CRM/Customer Orders/Invoices/Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivables (AR)/Inventory Control functions were 100 percent operational.
• A new Palo Alto 850 firewall was set up and programmed.
• Most of the user desktops and notebooks were fully operational.

Conclusion
A possible company-ending catastrophe was averted with top-tier experts, a broad range of knowledge, and close collaboration. Although in post mortem the ransomware penetration detailed here would have been identified and stopped with advanced security systems and recognized best practices, team training, and properly executed incident response procedures for data protection and keeping systems up to date with security patches, the fact is that government-sponsored cyber criminals from Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and will continue. If you do fall victim to a crypto-ransomware incident, feel confident that Progent's roster of professionals has extensive experience in ransomware virus blocking, cleanup, and file restoration.

To read 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 Offered by Progent
Progent can provide companies in Roseville a range of online monitoring and security assessment services designed to assist you to reduce your vulnerability to ransomware. These services include next-generation AI technology to detect zero-day strains of ransomware that can evade traditional signature-based anti-virus products.

• ProSight Managed Service Plans: for Small to Mid-size Businesses
  Progent's ProSight Managed IT Service Plans make it possible for small and mid-size companies to deploy Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) technology to create leading-edge IT resilience. Progent takes care of the daily monitoring and management for you, so your system scales smoothly without holding you back. For a low and predictable monthly subscription, Progent's experienced IT team can be your complete technology safety net. Basic packages include RMM, cybersecurity, automatic monthly patching, and reporting. As your requirements grow, you can add low-cost subscriptions to advanced options like as SaaS M365/Google Workspace backup, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), penetration testing, or WiFi management.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Monitoring and Management
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop monitoring managed service that uses state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management techniques to help keep your IT system running at peak levels by checking the state of vital assets that power your information system. When ProSight LAN Watch detects a problem, an alarm is sent immediately to your specified IT management staff and your assigned Progent consultant so that any looming issues can be addressed before they can impact productivity. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Unified RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Desktops
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a unified, cloud-driven solution for monitoring and managing your client-server infrastructure by offering tools for streamlining common tedious jobs. These can include health monitoring, patch management, automated repairs, endpoint setup, backup and recovery, A/V response, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint status reports, and troubleshooting support. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM uncovers a serious issue, it sends an alert to your designated IT management personnel and your Progent consultant so emerging problems can be fixed before they interfere with productivity. Find out more about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Remote Monitoring and Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure management service that makes it easy and inexpensive for smaller businesses to diagram, track, reconfigure and troubleshoot their networking hardware like routers, firewalls, and access points as well as servers, printers, endpoints and other networked devices. Incorporating state-of-the-art RMM technology, ProSight WAN Watch ensures that network diagrams are always current, captures and displays the configuration of almost all devices on your network, monitors performance, and generates alerts when potential issues are discovered. By automating complex management and troubleshooting processes, ProSight WAN Watch can cut hours off ordinary tasks such as making network diagrams, expanding your network, locating appliances that require critical software patches, or resolving performance problems. Learn more details about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure monitoring and management consulting.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Platforms
  ProSight Reporting is a growing suite of real-time and in-depth reporting utilities created to integrate with the top ticketing and network monitoring programs such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting uses Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize critical issues like spotty support follow-up or machines with missing patches. By identifying ticketing or network health concerns concisely and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting enhances productivity, lowers management hassle, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring platforms.

• ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS): Managed Backup and Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with leading backup/restore technology companies to create ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a portfolio of management offerings that provide backup-as-a-service. ProSight DPS services manage and track your backup processes and enable non-disruptive backup and fast restoration of vital files/folders, apps, system images, and VMs. ProSight DPS lets your business recover from data loss resulting from equipment failures, natural disasters, fire, cyber attacks such as ransomware, human error, ill-intentioned insiders, or software glitches. Managed services in the ProSight DPS product family 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 expert can assist you to determine which of these fully 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 filtering and email encryption service that uses the infrastructure of top information security vendors to deliver web-based control and comprehensive security for all your inbound and outbound email. The powerful architecture of Email Guard integrates a Cloud Protection Layer with a local gateway device to offer complete defense against spam, viruses, Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks (DHAs), and other email-based malware. The cloud filter serves as a preliminary barricade and blocks the vast majority of unwanted email from making it to your security perimeter. This reduces your vulnerability to inbound threats and conserves system bandwidth and storage space. Email Guard's onsite security gateway appliance provides a further level of analysis for inbound email. For outgoing email, the onsite gateway provides anti-virus and anti-spam protection, DLP, and email encryption. The local gateway can also assist Exchange Server to track and safeguard internal email traffic that stays inside your security perimeter. For more details, see ProSight Email Guard spam and content filtering.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: Identity Validation, Endpoint Policy Enforcement, and Secure Single Sign-on
  Progent's Duo authentication services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity verification on iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using Duo 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected application and enter your password you are asked to confirm who you are via a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide selection of devices can be used for this second means of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate several verification devices. For more information about Duo two-factor identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

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

• Active Defense Against Ransomware: AI-based Ransomware Detection and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Defense Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) solution that incorporates cutting edge behavior machine learning tools to defend endpoints as well as physical and virtual servers against new malware assaults such as ransomware and email phishing, which routinely get by legacy signature-matching AV products. Progent ASM services safeguard on-premises and cloud-based resources and provides a single platform to automate the entire malware attack lifecycle including protection, infiltration detection, containment, remediation, and forensics. Key capabilities include single-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and real-time system-wide immunization against newly discovered attacks. Read more about Progent's ransomware protection 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 create, update, retrieve and protect data about your network infrastructure, procedures, applications, and services. You can instantly locate passwords or serial numbers and be alerted automatically about upcoming expirations of SSLs ,domains or warranties. By updating and organizing your IT documentation, you can save up to 50% of time wasted looking for critical information about your network. ProSight IT Asset Management features a centralized repository for holding and sharing all documents related to managing your network infrastructure like standard operating procedures and self-service instructions. ProSight IT Asset Management also supports a high level of automation for collecting and relating IT data. Whether you're planning improvements, performing regular maintenance, or responding to an emergency, ProSight IT Asset Management delivers the knowledge you need when you need it. Find out more about Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Patch Management: Software/Firmware Update Management Services
  Progent's support services for software and firmware patch management provide organizations of all sizes a versatile and affordable solution for evaluating, validating, scheduling, applying, and documenting software and firmware updates to your ever-evolving information system. In addition to maximizing the protection and functionality of your computer environment, Progent's patch management services free up time for your in-house IT team to focus on line-of-business projects and activities that derive maximum business value from your network. Read more about Progent's software/firmware update management support 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 business can have its critical servers and apps hosted in a secure fault tolerant data center on a high-performance virtual machine host set up and managed by Progent's network support experts. Under Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting model, the client owns the data, the operating system software, and the apps. Since the system is virtualized, it can be moved easily to an alternate hardware environment without a time-consuming and difficult configuration procedure. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not locked into one hosting service. Find out 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 (EPP) solution that utilizes SentinelOne's next generation behavior-based analysis tools to guard physical and virtual endpoints against modern malware assaults such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely evade legacy signature-based AV tools. ProSight ASM safeguards on-premises and cloud-based resources and offers a unified platform to manage the entire threat lifecycle including blocking, identification, containment, cleanup, and forensics. Key features include single-click rollback using Windows VSS and automatic network-wide immunization against newly discovered threats. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Learn more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware recovery.

• ProSight Enhanced Security Protection: Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Exchange Filtering
  Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection managed services deliver economical multi-layer protection for physical servers and virtual machines, desktops, smartphones, and Exchange Server. ProSight ESP utilizes adaptive security and advanced heuristics for round-the-clock monitoring and reacting to cyber assaults from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP delivers firewall protection, intrusion alerts, endpoint management, and web filtering through cutting-edge tools packaged within a single agent managed from a unified console. Progent's data protection and virtualization consultants can help you to plan and configure a ProSight ESP deployment that meets your organization's specific needs and that helps you achieve and demonstrate compliance with legal and industry data security regulations. Progent will help you specify and configure policies that ProSight ESP will enforce, and Progent will monitor your network and react to alarms that call for immediate action. Progent's consultants can also help you to install and verify a backup and restore system such as ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can recover rapidly from a potentially disastrous security attack such as ransomware. Read more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection unified physical and virtual endpoint security and Microsoft Exchange filtering.