Ransomware Response Consultants

Overview of Progent's Ransomware Negotiation Consulting in Walnut Creek
Progent has experience negotiating ransomware settlements with hackers. Negotiating an acceptable settlement is a complicated activity that requires a mix of real-word experience, IT knowledge and business savvy. It also demands working closely with the cyber-extortion target's IT staff and the cyber insurance carrier, if any. Since the top goal of the ransomware victim is operational continuity, it is critical to establish recovery teams that work efficiently, concurrently, and in close communication. Progent has the scope of IT skills and the depth of experts to complement your network support team and recover your network environment quickly and economically.

Support available from Progent's ransomware settlement team include:

• Establishing the kind of ransomware involved in the attack
• Identifying and contacting the hacker
• Assessing the likelihood of recovery
• Testing the TA's decryption capabilities
• Budgeting a settlement payment with the ransomware victim and the insurance provider
• Negotiating a settlement amount and timeline with the threat actor
• Verifying compliance with anti-money laundering regulations
• Managing the crypto-currency disbursement to the TA
• Acquiring, learning, and using the hacker's decryptor mechanism
• If needed, contacting the TA for technical help with the decryption tool

• Isolating affected endpoints and data stores to prevent further spread of the attack
• Making digital copies of each breached device and data store to allow forensics in parallel with restoration
• Adding A/V protection to all clean endpoints
• Recovering data from air-gapped restores or unscathed machines
• Creating a pristine recovery environment
• Mapping and connecting datastores to match exactly their pre-encryption condition

Settling Exfiltration Ransoms
Beyond demanding payment for a decryption utility, modern strains of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, DopplePaymer, and Egregor commonly try to steal (or "exfiltrate") information. Hackers are then able to demand an additional ransom for not publishing this information or selling it. Sadly, there exists no method to be certain that stolen data have been totally erased by the TA. In fact, in many instances the hacker has little control over data custody. Paying an exfiltration ransom does not eliminate the need for engaging the advice of privacy attorneys, performing an inventory of files were taken, and sending the mandated notifications to affected entities. In almost all cases, paying an exfiltration ransom is a waste.

Progent's Qualifications
Progent has delivered remote and on-premises IT services across the United States for over two decades and has been awarded Microsoft's Partner certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity practice areas. Progent's team of SMEs includes professionals who have been awarded high-level certifications in core technology platforms such as Cisco infrastructure, VMware virtualization, and popular Linux distros. Progent's cybersecurity consultants have earned industry-recognized certifications including CISA, CISSP, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (See Progent's certifications). Progent also offers guidance in financial and ERP application software. This broad array of skills gives Progent the ability to salvage and integrate the surviving parts of your information system following a ransomware intrusion and rebuild them rapidly into a functioning system. Progent has collaborated with leading cyber insurance carriers like Chubb to assist organizations clean up after ransomware assaults.

Contact Progent about Crypto-Ransomware Settlement Negotiation Expertise in Walnut Creek
To contact with Progent about ransomware settlement expertise in Walnut Creek, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or go to Contact Progent.