Santa Cruz Ransomware Protection and Cleanup Consulting

Ransomware Hot Line: 800-462-8800

24x7 Online Help from a Senior Ransomware Engineer
Ransomware requires time to work its way through a target network. For this reason, ransomware assaults are commonly unleashed on weekends and late at night, when support personnel are likely to take longer to become aware of a breach and are least able to organize a quick and coordinated defense. The more lateral movement ransomware is able to achieve within a target's network, the longer it will require to restore basic IT services and scrambled files and the more information can be exfiltrated to the dark web.

Progent's Ransomware Hot Line is intended to guide organizations to complete the time-critical first phase in responding to a ransomware attack by putting out the fire. Progent's remote ransomware engineers can assist organizations in the Santa Cruz metro area to locate and quarantine infected servers and endpoints and guard clean resources from being penetrated.

If your network has been breached by any version of ransomware, don't panic. Get help quickly by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800.

Progent's Ransomware Response Services Offered in Santa Cruz
Current variants of crypto-ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, DopplePaymer, and Egregor encrypt online data and attack any accessible system restores and backups. Data synched to the cloud can also be impacted. For a vulnerable network, this can make automated recovery almost impossible and basically throws the IT system back to square one. So-called Threat Actors (TAs), the cybercriminals responsible for ransomware assault, demand a ransom payment for the decryption tools needed to recover encrypted files. Ransomware attacks also try to steal (or "exfiltrate") files and TAs demand an additional payment in exchange for not posting this information or selling it. Even if you are able to rollback your system to an acceptable date in time, exfiltration can pose a major issue according to the nature of the downloaded data.

The restoration work after a ransomware attack has a number of crucial stages, most of which can proceed concurrently if the recovery team has a sufficient number of members with the required experience.

• Quarantine: This time-critical initial response involves arresting the lateral progress of ransomware across your network. The longer a ransomware attack is allowed to run unchecked, the more complex and more costly the restoration effort. Recognizing this, Progent keeps a round-the-clock Ransomware Hotline staffed by veteran ransomware response experts. Containment activities consist of isolating infected endpoints from the network to minimize the spread, documenting the environment, and protecting entry points.
• System continuity: This covers restoring the network to a basic acceptable level of functionality with the least delay. This effort is typically the top priority for the victims of the ransomware assault, who often perceive it to be a life-or-death issue for their company. This activity also requires the widest array of IT skills that span domain controllers, DHCP servers, physical and virtual servers, PCs, laptops and smart phones, databases, office and line-of-business apps, network topology, and secure endpoint access. Progent's ransomware recovery experts use state-of-the-art workgroup tools to coordinate the multi-faceted restoration effort. Progent appreciates the importance of working quickly, continuously, and in concert with a client's management and IT staff to prioritize activity and to put essential services on line again as fast as feasible.
• Data restoration: The work necessary to recover files impacted by a ransomware attack depends on the condition of the systems, the number of files that are encrypted, and which restore methods are needed. Ransomware assaults can take down critical databases which, if not gracefully shut down, may have to be rebuilt from the beginning. This can include DNS and AD databases. Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server rely on AD, and many ERP and other business-critical applications depend on Microsoft SQL Server. Some detective work may be needed to find clean data. For instance, non-encrypted Outlook Email Offline Folder Files may exist on staff PCs and laptops that were off line during the ransomware assault. Progent's ProSight Data Protection Services utilize Altaro VM Backup technology to defend against ransomware attacks via Immutable Cloud Storage. This creates tamper-proof data that cannot be erased or modified by anyone including root users.
• Implementing advanced AV/ransomware defense: ProSight ASM utilizes SentinelOne's machine learning technology to give small and mid-sized businesses the advantages of the identical AV tools deployed by many of the world's biggest enterprises including Walmart, Citi, and Salesforce. By providing in-line malware filtering, detection, containment, restoration and forensics in one integrated platform, ProSight Active Security Monitoring cuts total cost of ownership, simplifies administration, and expedites recovery. SentinelOne's next-generation endpoint protection engine incorporated in Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring was ranked by Gartner Group as the industry's "most visionary Endpoint Protection Platform." Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. Read about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring next-generation endpoint protection and ransomware defense with SentinelOne technology.
• Negotiation with the threat actor (TA): Progent is experienced in negotiating ransom settlements with hackers. This requires close co-operation with the victim and the cyber insurance provider, if there is one. Activities consist of establishing the kind of ransomware used in the assault; identifying and establishing communications the hacker; testing decryption tool; budgeting a settlement amount with the victim and the insurance provider; establishing a settlement and schedule with the TA; confirming compliance with anti-money laundering regulations; overseeing the crypto-currency transfer to the TA; receiving, learning, and operating the decryption utility; debugging failed files; building a pristine environment; mapping and reconnecting drives to reflect precisely their pre-attack condition; and reprovisioning machines and software services.
• Forensic analysis: This process is aimed at discovering the ransomware assault's storyline across the targeted network from start to finish. This history of the way a ransomware assault progressed through the network helps your IT staff to evaluate the damage and brings to light weaknesses in policies or processes that should be corrected to prevent future breaches. Forensics entails the examination of all logs, registry, GPO, AD, DNS, routers, firewalls, schedulers, and core Windows systems to check for changes. Forensics is typically assigned a high priority by the insurance provider. Because forensics can take time, it is essential that other important recovery processes such as business resumption are performed in parallel. Progent maintains an extensive roster of information technology and security professionals with the skills required to perform the work of containment, operational continuity, and data recovery without interfering with forensic analysis.

Contact Progent for Ransomware System Recovery Services in Santa Cruz
For ransomware recovery consulting services in the Santa Cruz area, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.