Santa Monica Ransomware Filtering and Cleanup Solutions

Ransomware has been weaponized by cyber extortionists and malicious states, representing a potentially existential risk to businesses that are breached. The latest versions of crypto-ransomware target everything, including backup, making even selective recovery a challenging and costly process. Novel variations of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, Snatch and Nephilim have made the headlines, displacing WannaCry, TeslaCrypt, and CryptoWall in prominence, elaborateness, and destructiveness.

Most crypto-ransomware penetrations come from innocuous-looking emails that have malicious links or attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" strains that elude the defenses of traditional signature-based antivirus filters. Although user education and frontline identification are important to defend against ransomware attacks, leading practices dictate that you assume some malware will eventually succeed and that you deploy a strong backup solution that enables you to recover rapidly with little if any losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is an ultra-affordable service centered around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant skilled in ransomware defense and repair. In the course of this interview Progent will cooperate directly with your Santa Monica IT managers to collect pertinent data concerning your cybersecurity profile and backup processes. Progent will utilize this data to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment documenting how to apply best practices for configuring and administering your cybersecurity and backup solution to block or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report focuses on key issues related to crypto-ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review addresses:

Cybersecurity

• Proper allocation and use of administration accounts
• Assigning NTFS (New Technology File System) and SMB authorizations
• Proper firewall configuration
• Safe RDP connections
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) filtering identification and deployment

• Split permission model for backup protection
• Backing up critical servers such as Active Directory
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a variety of malware that encrypts or steals a victim's files so they cannot be used or are made publicly available. Crypto-ransomware sometimes locks the target's computer. To avoid the damage, the victim is asked to pay a specified ransom, typically via a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a brief time window. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will restore the lost files or prevent its publication. Files can be altered or erased across a network depending on the victim's write permissions, and you cannot break the strong encryption algorithms used on the compromised files. A common ransomware delivery package is spoofed email, whereby the victim is tricked into responding to by means of a social engineering technique known as spear phishing. This makes the email to appear to come from a familiar sender. Another popular vulnerability is a poorly protected Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port.

The ransomware variant CryptoLocker ushered in the modern era of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses caused by different strains of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every two years. Famous examples include WannaCry, and Petya. Recent headline variants like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer and Cerber are more sophisticated and have wreaked more damage than earlier versions. Even if your backup/recovery procedures enable your business to restore your encrypted files, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where stolen documents are made public. Because additional versions of ransomware crop up daily, there is no certainty that traditional signature-based anti-virus tools will detect a new malware. If an attack does appear in an email, it is critical that your end users have learned to be aware of social engineering tricks. Your last line of protection is a sound scheme for performing and keeping offsite backups and the use of dependable restoration platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Susceptibility Assessment in Santa Monica
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Susceptibility Report can enhance your protection against crypto-ransomware in Santa Monica, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.