Monday, March 20, 2017

Ransomware stopped by WatchGuard

Ransomware Stopped by WatchGuard

As a Watchguard Certified Training Partner, many times we know about new features and capabilities with the WatchGuard firewall products before the general public knows about them.  Such was the case with a new module that WatchGuard released over the last couple of months in its Total Security Suite called Threat Detection and Response (TDR).

As you probably know, Ransomware is exponentially increasing in quantity and severity and has been very effective in doing its job by encrypting customer data and holding it hostage.  Here is a quick WatchGuard video explaining the threat and vulnerability of Ransomware:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbTFrmr_0E





If you are not familiar with ransomware, here is a really good video explaining what it is in English...the video features"Ransombear" as a cartoon character.  This video is called "Ransombear is on the hunt":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEKAlupYgDc

Last week I saw a WatchGuard (WG) engineer demonstrate how extremely effective the WatchGuard firewall and TDR module were together in stopping Ransomware "dead in its tracks."

During this short demo, the WG engineer clicked on a real ransomware file and showed how the WG TDR not only stopped the ransomware but also showed information in a WG console which captured and explained what had just happened.  There was nothing for the user to do, and you could see nothing happening.  The WG TDR module simply just did its job and kept the ransomware from executing and encrypting files.  

To prove that the Ransomware file was real, the WG engineer then turned off the TDR services on his Windows machine and then double-clicked the same file....and whoa la!  Within a matter of a few seconds, a screen popped up letting us know that our files were now encrypted and showed us a ticking clock to let us know how much time we had remaining to pay the ransom.

Now, you can watch it too!  Just visit my YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/ORqaWDvF5nQ and you will get a chance to hear more about WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, as well as watch the WG Sales Engineer, demonstrate how ransomware is stopped by the WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response Host Sensor.

Extremely effective!  Up until now, I have had to explain that firewalls and anti-virus do little to nothing in protecting you against Ransomware...and could not detect, let alone, prevent a Ransomware attack.  Now, we have WG Threat Detection and Response to detect and respond to threats like Ransomware.  The new TDR module is available for laptops and desktops and is available as part of your Total Security Suite.  TDR is very effective as endpoint protection and the best part is that TDR is effective even if you are operating on Windows or Linux and you are not physically behind a WG firewall!

If you own a WatchGuard firewall but don't know or understand how the TDR module works, give us a call at DCS Netlink -Toll-Free: 877-327-6385.  Our WatchGuard certified engineers will help you determine how you can protect yourself and your network against Ransomware with the new WG TDR module.

Watch for our on-line WatchGuard Certified Training Partner seminar on the new TDR module.... Coming Soon!