24x7x365 Anchorage Critical Crypto
Virus Identification and Recovery Consulting

Ransomware : Your Worst Information Technology Nightmare
Crypto-Ransomware has become an escalating cyberplague that poses an existential threat for businesses unprepared for an attack. Different versions of crypto-ransomware such as CryptoLocker, Fusob, Locky, Syskey and MongoLock cryptoworms have been circulating for a long time and continue to cause damage. Newer strains of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Conti or Nephilim, along with frequent unnamed viruses, not only do encryption of online information but also infect any accessible system backup. Information synched to off-site disaster recovery sites can also be held hostage. In a poorly architected environment, this can make automatic restore operations impossible and basically knocks the network back to square one.

Getting back programs and information following a ransomware event becomes a race against time as the targeted business fights to contain, cleanup the virus, and restore enterprise-critical activity. Because ransomware needs time to spread, attacks are often launched on weekends, when penetrations typically take longer to notice. This compounds the difficulty of quickly mobilizing and orchestrating a qualified response team.

Progent has a variety of solutions for securing enterprises from ransomware events. Among these are user education to help recognize and not fall victim to phishing attempts, ProSight Active Security Monitoring for remote monitoring and management, plus installation of next-generation security gateways with AI capabilities from SentinelOne to discover and quarantine zero-day cyber threats rapidly. Progent also provides the services of seasoned ransomware recovery consultants with the track record and commitment to reconstruct a compromised environment as soon as possible.

Progent's Ransomware Recovery Services
Subsequent to a ransomware attack, paying the ransom demands in cryptocurrency does not provide any assurance that criminal gangs will return the needed keys to decrypt any or all of your files. Kaspersky ascertained that 17% of ransomware victims never restored their files after having sent off the ransom, resulting in more losses. The gamble is also very costly. Ryuk ransoms are commonly several hundred thousand dollars. For larger enterprises, the ransom demand can be in the millions. The alternative is to setup from scratch the mission-critical parts of your IT environment. Without the availability of complete data backups, this requires a broad complement of IT skills, professional team management, and the willingness to work 24x7 until the job is done.

For decades, Progent has offered expert Information Technology services for companies across the US and has earned Microsoft's Partnership certification in the Datacenter and Cloud Productivity competencies. Progent's group of subject matter experts (SMEs) includes professionals who have earned high-level industry certifications in key technologies such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and major distributions of Linux. Progent's security specialists have garnered internationally-renowned certifications including CISA, CISSP, ISACA CRISC, GIAC, and CMMC 2.0. (See Progent's certifications). Progent in addition has experience with accounting and ERP application software. This breadth of expertise provides Progent the ability to rapidly understand important systems and integrate the surviving components of your computer network environment after a ransomware event and rebuild them into a functioning system.

Progent's ransomware group uses state-of-the-art project management systems to orchestrate the complicated recovery process. Progent understands the urgency of working quickly and in unison with a customer's management and IT team members to prioritize tasks and to put critical services back online as fast as humanly possible.

Case Study: A Successful Ransomware Virus Response
A business contacted Progent after their network system was attacked by Ryuk ransomware. Ryuk is believed to have been developed by Northern Korean state sponsored criminal gangs, suspected of using approaches exposed from the U.S. National Security Agency. Ryuk targets specific companies with limited room for disruption and is among the most profitable versions of crypto-ransomware. Headline targets include Data Resolution, a California-based info warehousing and cloud computing firm, and the Chicago Tribune. Progent's client is a regional manufacturing company located in Chicago and has around 500 employees. The Ryuk attack had frozen all essential operations and manufacturing capabilities. The majority of the client's system backups had been directly accessible at the time of the attack and were destroyed. The client considered paying the ransom (more than two hundred thousand dollars) and wishfully thinking for good luck, but ultimately utilized Progent.

Progent worked hand in hand the customer to quickly determine and prioritize the essential systems that had to be restored in order to resume business operations:

• Microsoft Active Directory
• E-Mail
• Financials/MRP

Within two days, Progent was able to recover Active Directory services to its pre-intrusion state. Progent then completed rebuilding and hard drive recovery on essential servers. All Exchange ties and attributes were intact, which facilitated the rebuild of Exchange. Progent was also able to assemble non-encrypted OST files (Microsoft Outlook Offline Data Files) on various PCs to recover mail data. A not too old offline backup of the customer's accounting/ERP software made them able to recover these required services back online for users. Although significant work remained to recover fully from the Ryuk virus, core systems were recovered quickly:

Throughout the following month critical milestones in the recovery process were achieved in close collaboration between Progent team members and the customer:

• Internal web sites were restored without losing any information.
• The MailStore Server with over 4 million archived emails was restored to operations and accessible to users.
• CRM/Orders/Invoicing/Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivables (AR)/Inventory Control functions were completely recovered.
• A new Palo Alto 850 firewall was installed.
• Nearly all of the desktop computers were functioning as before the incident.

Conclusion
A possible business-ending catastrophe was averted with top-tier experts, a broad range of knowledge, and close collaboration. Although in post mortem the ransomware attack described here should have been identified and disabled with modern security systems and NIST Cybersecurity Framework best practices, user training, and well designed incident response procedures for data backup and proper patching controls, the reality is that government-sponsored cyber criminals from Russia, North Korea and elsewhere are tireless and are not going away. If you do fall victim to a ransomware incident, feel confident that Progent's team of professionals has extensive experience in ransomware virus defense, cleanup, and data recovery.

To review 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 businesses in Anchorage a portfolio of online monitoring and security evaluation services designed to assist you to reduce the threat from crypto-ransomware. These services include next-generation artificial intelligence technology to uncover new strains of ransomware that are able to escape detection by traditional signature-based security products.

• ProSight LAN Watch: Server and Desktop Monitoring and Management
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's server and desktop monitoring managed service that incorporates state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management technology to help keep your IT system operating efficiently by tracking the state of vital computers that power your information system. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers an issue, an alert is transmitted immediately to your specified IT personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so that all looming issues can be resolved before they can impact your network. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch server and desktop monitoring services.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Centralized RMM for Networks, Servers, and Desktops
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software offers a unified, cloud-driven solution for monitoring and managing your network, server, and desktop devices by providing tools for streamlining common time-consuming tasks. These include health monitoring, update management, automated remediation, endpoint setup, backup and restore, anti-virus defense, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reports, and troubleshooting assistance. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM identifies a serious issue, it sends an alarm to your designated IT personnel and your Progent consultant so potential issues can be taken care of before they interfere with productivity. Find out more details about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop remote monitoring services.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Network Infrastructure Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is an infrastructure monitoring and management service that makes it easy and affordable for smaller businesses to diagram, monitor, enhance and troubleshoot their networking appliances such as switches, firewalls, and access points as well as servers, client computers and other networked devices. Using state-of-the-art Remote Monitoring and Management technology, ProSight WAN Watch ensures that infrastructure topology maps are always updated, copies and displays the configuration information of virtually all devices connected to your network, tracks performance, and generates notices when potential issues are discovered. By automating tedious network management processes, ProSight WAN Watch can knock hours off common tasks like network mapping, expanding your network, finding appliances that require important updates, or isolating performance bottlenecks. Learn more about ProSight WAN Watch network infrastructure monitoring and management consulting.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is a growing family of real-time management reporting plug-ins designed to work with the leading ticketing and remote network monitoring applications including ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting incorporates Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to highlight and contextualize critical issues such as 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 hassle, and saves money. For details, see ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring applications.

• ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS): Backup and Recovery Services
  Progent has partnered with advanced backup software providers to produce ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a family of management outsourcing plans that deliver backup-as-a-service (BaaS). ProSight DPS services automate and track your data backup operations and allow non-disruptive backup and fast recovery of vital files/folders, apps, system images, and Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines. ProSight DPS helps your business avoid data loss caused by equipment breakdown, natural disasters, fire, cyber attacks like ransomware, user error, malicious employees, or application bugs. Managed backup services in the ProSight Data Protection Services product line include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro 365 Backup), ProSight ECHO Backup based on Barracuda purpose-built storage, and ProSight MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent expert can assist you to determine which of these managed backup services are best suited 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 service that uses the technology of leading data security companies to provide web-based management and world-class protection for all your email traffic. The powerful architecture of Progent's Email Guard combines a Cloud Protection Layer with an on-premises gateway appliance to offer complete protection against spam, viruses, Dos Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks (DHAs), and other email-based malware. Email Guard's cloud filter serves as a first line of defense and keeps the vast majority of unwanted email from reaching your network firewall. This reduces your exposure to inbound attacks and conserves network bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's onsite security gateway appliance provides a deeper level of analysis for incoming email. For outgoing email, the on-premises security gateway provides anti-virus and anti-spam protection, policy-based Data Loss Prevention, and email encryption. The local gateway can also assist Exchange Server to monitor and protect internal email traffic that stays inside your corporate firewall. For more details, see Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight Duo Multi-Factor Authentication: ID Confirmation, Endpoint Remediation, and Secure Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo MFA services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity verification on iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are asked to confirm who you are on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be used as this second form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate several verification devices. For details about Duo identity validation 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 IT group to outsource Support Desk services to Progent or split activity for support services seamlessly between your internal network support resources and Progent's nationwide pool of certified IT support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Co-managed Service Desk offers a seamless supplement to your in-house IT support group. User interaction with the Service Desk, delivery of support, issue escalation, trouble ticket generation and updates, performance metrics, and maintenance of the support database are cohesive regardless of whether incidents are resolved by your internal network support group, by Progent's team, or by a combination. Learn more about Progent's outsourced/co-managed Call Desk services.

• Progent Active Protection Against Ransomware: Machine Learning-based Ransomware Identification and Cleanup
  Progent's Active Protection Against Ransomware is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that utilizes cutting edge behavior-based machine learning tools to defend endpoints as well as servers and VMs against new malware assaults like ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely escape traditional signature-matching AV tools. Progent ASM services protect on-premises and cloud-based resources and provides a single platform to address the complete threat lifecycle including protection, detection, containment, cleanup, and post-attack forensics. Key features include one-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and real-time system-wide immunization against newly discovered attacks. Learn more about Progent's ransomware defense and recovery services.

• ProSight IT Asset Management: Network Documentation Management
  Progent's ProSight IT Asset Management service is an IT infrastructure documentation management service that allows you to create, maintain, find and safeguard information about your IT infrastructure, procedures, business apps, and services. You can quickly locate passwords or IP addresses and be warned automatically about impending expirations of SSLs or warranties. By cleaning up and managing your IT infrastructure documentation, you can eliminate as much as half of time spent looking for critical information about your network. ProSight IT Asset Management includes a common location for holding and collaborating on all documents required for managing your network infrastructure such as recommended procedures and How-To's. ProSight IT Asset Management also offers a high level of automation for collecting and associating IT data. Whether you're making enhancements, performing maintenance, or reacting to a crisis, ProSight IT Asset Management gets you the data you need the instant you need it. Read more about ProSight IT Asset Management service.

• Progent's Patch Management: Patch Management Services
  Progent's support services for patch management provide businesses of any size a versatile and cost-effective alternative for assessing, testing, scheduling, applying, and documenting updates to your ever-evolving IT network. In addition to maximizing the security and reliability of your computer environment, Progent's software/firmware update management services free up time for your in-house IT staff to concentrate on line-of-business initiatives 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 World-class Data Center
  With Progent's ProSight Virtual Hosting service, a small organization can have its key servers and applications hosted in a protected Tier III data center on a fast virtual host set up and managed by Progent's IT support experts. Under the ProSight Virtual Hosting model, the customer owns the data, the operating system software, and the apps. Because the system is virtualized, it can be ported easily to an alternate hosting environment without requiring a time-consuming and difficult configuration process. With ProSight Virtual Hosting, you are not tied one hosting service. Find out more about ProSight Virtual Hosting services.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring: Endpoint Protection and Ransomware Defense
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) is an endpoint protection (EPP) solution that utilizes SentinelOne's next generation behavior-based analysis tools to guard physical and virtual endpoint devices against new malware attacks such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which easily escape traditional signature-matching AV tools. ProSight Active Security Monitoring safeguards local and cloud resources and offers a unified platform to manage the complete threat progression including filtering, detection, mitigation, remediation, and forensics. Key features include one-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and real-time system-wide immunization against new attacks. 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
  ProSight Enhanced Security Protection services offer affordable multi-layer protection for physical servers and VMs, desktops, mobile devices, and Microsoft Exchange. ProSight ESP utilizes adaptive security and advanced heuristics for round-the-clock monitoring and reacting to cyber threats from all attack vectors. ProSight ESP provides two-way firewall protection, penetration alerts, endpoint management, and web filtering through leading-edge technologies packaged within one agent accessible from a single console. Progent's security and virtualization experts can help your business to design and configure a ProSight ESP environment that addresses your company's specific requirements and that helps you prove compliance with legal and industry information security standards. Progent will help you define and implement security policies that ProSight ESP will manage, and Progent will monitor your IT environment and respond to alarms that require immediate attention. Progent's consultants can also assist you to set up and verify a backup and disaster recovery system such as ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) so you can get back in business rapidly from a potentially disastrous security attack like ransomware. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Enhanced Security Protection (ESP) unified physical and virtual endpoint protection and Microsoft Exchange filtering.