WordPress 해킹? 해킹된 WordPress 사이트 스캔 및 정리

WordPress가 해킹 당했습니까? 아니면 웹사이트에 문제가 있다고 생각하십니까?

WordPress 해킹이 의심되는 경우 가장 먼저 해야 할 일은 웹사이트를 검사하는 것입니다.

이렇게 하면 해킹에 대한 의심이 확인되고 사이트를 정상 상태로 되돌리기 위한 최선의 조치를 결정하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

우리는 해킹된 WordPress 사이트에 대해 당황하는 웹사이트 관리자로부터 매일 이메일을 받습니다. 그들 중 일부는 웹 호스트가 계정을 일시 중단하기 때문에 웹사이트에 액세스할 수 없습니다. 그리고 일부는 wp-admin에 대한 액세스 권한을 완전히 상실했습니다.

WordPress 사이트에서 해킹을 확인했다면 MalCare를 설치하고 즉시 사이트를 정리해야 합니다.

이 단계별 가이드는 해킹의 원인을 식별하고 현재 또는 미래의 위협으로부터 웹사이트를 보호하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

WordPress에는 수많은 리소스가 있는 번성하는 커뮤니티가 있지만 대부분의 솔루션은 구현하기 어렵습니다. 그래서 종종 나쁜 조언은 좋은 것보다 더 많은 해를 입힙니다. 이것은 극도로 실망스럽고 스트레스를 받을 수 있으며, 결국 해커가 이긴 것처럼 느껴지고 작업이 손실될 수 있습니다. 그렇지 않습니다.

WordPress 사이트가 해킹당했다고 생각되면 복구를 도와드리겠습니다.

기억해야 할 중요한 것은 해킹이 해결될 수 있다는 것입니다. 우리는 20,000개 이상의 WordPress 사이트를 청소했으며 매일 100,000개 이상의 사이트를 보호합니다. 우리는 이러한 지혜를 다음 가이드에 요약하여 해킹을 검증하고 웹사이트를 정리하며 향후 보호하는 데 도움이 될 것입니다.

TL;DR:해킹된 WordPress 사이트를 5분 안에 정리하세요. 해킹은 처리되지 않은 상태로 방치될수록 기하급수적인 피해를 입히므로 가볍게 여겨서는 안 됩니다. MalCare를 사용하면 버튼 클릭 한 번으로 웹사이트에서 맬웨어의 모든 흔적을 외과적으로 제거할 수 있습니다.

WordPress 사이트에서 해킹을 신속하게 제거하는 방법은 무엇입니까?

해킹 된 WordPress 웹 사이트는 공황이나 좌절의 원인이 될 수 있습니다. 그러나 해킹이 얼마나 나쁜지 상관없이 놀라지 마십시오. 해킹된 WordPress 사이트를 수정하는 데 도움을 드릴 수 있습니다.

웹사이트의 멀웨어 증상

멀웨어는 오해의 소지가 있으며 그렇게 설계되었기 때문에 사용자로부터 숨길 수 있습니다. 따라서 WordPress 사이트에 맬웨어가 포함된 맬웨어가 있는지 확인하기가 어렵습니다. 하지만 주의해야 할 몇 가지 증상이 있습니다. 다음은 웹사이트의 맬웨어의 지표가 될 수 있는 몇 가지 증상입니다.

• Google 검색 결과의 스팸
• 웹사이트의 문제
• 웹사이트에 대한 백엔드 변경
• 웹 호스트 문제
• 성능 문제
• 사용자 경험 문제
• 분석 패턴의 변화

이 문제를 더 잘 이해하려면 이 기사의 뒷부분에서 자세히 설명했습니다.

웹사이트에서 맬웨어를 검사하는 방법은 무엇입니까?

이제 주의해야 할 사항을 알았으므로 WordPress 해킹이 의심되는 경우 가장 먼저 해야 할 일은 웹사이트를 스캔하는 것입니다.

웹사이트에서 해킹을 검사할 수 있는 세 가지 방법이 있습니다. 이러한 각 방법에는 장단점이 있습니다. 하나를 선택하기 전에 관련 섹션을 자세히 읽고 요구 사항에 맞는 것이 무엇인지 확인하는 것이 좋습니다.

1. 보안 스캐너로 정밀 스캔
2. 온라인 스캐너를 사용하여 스캔
3. 수동으로 맬웨어 검사

MalCare는 다른 방법으로 찾기 어려운 숨겨진 악성 코드를 찾기 위해 특별히 제작되었으므로 MalCare와 같은 보안 스캐너를 사용하여 검사하는 것이 좋습니다.

해킹된 WordPress 사이트를 어떻게 정리하나요?

웹사이트에서 해킹을 확인했으므로 이제 해킹된 WordPress 웹사이트를 수정할 차례입니다. 웹사이트를 청소하는 방법은 여러 가지가 있지만 MalCare와 같은 우수한 보안 플러그인을 사용하는 것이 좋습니다. MalCare를 사용하면 몇 분 안에 웹사이트를 자동으로 정리할 수 있으며 정리할 때마다 비용을 청구하지 않습니다. 또한 향후 해킹으로부터 WordPress 사이트를 보호합니다.

또는 아래 기사에 수동 청소 섹션이 포함되어 있습니다. 그러나 보안 전문가가 아닌 이상 수동 청소는 이미 있는 것보다 더 많은 문제를 일으킬 수 있으므로 권장하지 않습니다.

1. 보안 플러그인을 사용하여 해킹 제거
2. WordPress 보안 전문가 고용
3. WordPress 해킹 수동 정리

기사에서 이 섹션을 살펴보고 어떤 섹션이 가장 적합한지 알아낼 수 있습니다. 그러나 보안 전문가가 아닌 한 해킹된 WordPress 웹사이트를 수동으로 청소하는 것은 이미 있는 것보다 더 많은 문제를 일으킬 수 있으므로 권장하지 않습니다.

WordPress 해킹으로 인한 피해를 되돌리는 방법은 무엇입니까?

WordPress 사이트가 해킹되면 몇 가지 문제가 발생합니다. 귀하의 웹사이트가 블랙리스트에 올랐거나 액세스 권한이 상실되었을 수 있습니다. 사이트를 다시 가동하려면 몇 가지 해야 할 일이 있습니다.

• 웹사이트에 다시 액세스
• Google의 블랙리스트에서 사이트 제거
• 브랜드 손상 방지

나중에 WordPress 사이트가 해킹당하지 않도록 보호하는 방법은 무엇입니까?

마지막으로 WordPress 사이트가 깨끗해지면 웹사이트 보안에 대한 섹션도 포함됩니다.

• 향후 해킹을 피하는 방법
• WordPress가 해킹에 취약한 경우
• 해킹의 작동 원리
• 해킹된 사이트의 결과
• WordPress 사이트가 해킹되는 이유

이 모든 섹션을 통해 WordPress 해킹을 극복하고 향후 해킹으로부터 WordPress 웹 사이트를 보호하기 위한 전체 가이드를 다뤘습니다. 따라서 해킹이 있어도 걱정하지 마십시오. 우리가 당신을 다룹니다!

워드프레스가 해킹당했다는 것은 무엇을 의미합니까?

해킹된 WordPress 사이트는 귀하의 웹사이트에 악성 코드가 있음을 의미합니다. 다양한 유형의 WordPress 해킹이 있기 때문에 맬웨어는 여러 위치, 여러 변종에 있을 수 있으며 다양한 방식으로 나타날 수 있습니다. 예를 들어, WordPress 리디렉션 해킹의 변종 중 하나는 수백 개의 게시물이 있더라도 웹사이트의 모든 단일 게시물을 감염시킵니다.

해킹과 맬웨어는 기업과 개인에게 수백만 달러의 손실을 입히고 웹사이트와 사용자 경험뿐만 아니라 SEO 순위를 탈선시켜 법적 문제를 야기합니다. 회복에 대한 엄청난 스트레스는 말할 것도 없습니다. 멀웨어는 백도어를 생성하므로 잘못된 코드를 찾아 제거하더라도 WordPress 사이트는 계속 해킹당합니다.

기억해야 할 중요한 점은 이미 해킹을 당할 만큼 심각하지만 시간이 지날수록 기하급수적으로 악화된다는 것입니다. 멀웨어가 웹사이트에 오래 남아 있을수록 스스로 복제하여 더 많은 피해를 입히고 귀하의 사이트를 사용하여 다른 웹사이트를 감염시킵니다. 사실, 웹 호스트가 아직 계정을 일시 중지하지 않았다면 아마도 일시 중지될 것입니다. 구글도 마찬가지다. 몇 분 만에 웹사이트를 스캔하고 정리하여 이러한 슬픔을 크게 줄일 수 있습니다.

WordPress 사이트가 해킹되었는지 어떻게 알 수 있습니까?

WordPress 해킹의 문제점은 예측할 수 없거나 예측할 수 없도록 설계되었다는 것입니다. 해커는 가능한 한 오랫동안 웹 사이트에서 최대한 많이 추출하기 위해 관리자를 혼란스럽게 만들고 싶어합니다. 따라서 맬웨어로 인해 웹사이트가 이상하게 작동할 수 있지만 항상 그런 것은 아닙니다.

예를 들어 관리자는 악성 리디렉션과 같은 증상을 한 번 보고 다시는 보지 않습니다. 스팸성 제품 및 서비스에 대한 광고가 웹사이트의 완전히 무해한 광고와 합법적인 광고 사이에 표시되는 멀버타이징에서도 동일한 일이 발생합니다. 해커는 쿠키를 설정하여 웹사이트 관리자가 잘못된 보안 감각에 빠져들도록 합니다. 문자 그대로.

그러나 웹 호스트가 계정을 일시 중지했거나 방문자가 웹사이트를 방문하려고 할 때 Google 블랙리스트 경고가 표시되는 경우 WordPress 사이트가 해킹되었다는 상당히 신뢰할 수 있는 표시입니다.

도움말: 웹 사이트에서 맬웨어 또는 증상이 발생하면 운영 체제, 브라우저, 장치, 이전 단계 등 모든 변수를 기록해 두는 것이 좋습니다. 이렇게 하면 전문가의 도움을 받든 직접 맬웨어를 치료하든 문제를 해결하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

A. 해킹된 WordPress 웹사이트의 증상

각 WordPress 해킹은 다르게 설계되었으므로 다른 방식으로 나타납니다. 스팸 링크 주입 해킹은 원격 코드 실행 해킹과 다릅니다. 따라서 아래의 모든 증상이 표시되지는 않지만 한두 가지가 나타날 수 있습니다.

우리는 해킹된 WordPress 사이트 증상의 포괄적인 목록을 정리하고 증상이 보이는 위치에 따라 정렬했습니다.

1. Google 검색 결과에 스팸 표시

귀하는 귀하의 웹사이트가 키워드 검색에서 순위를 매길 수 있도록 SEO 작업에 시간과 에너지를 투자했습니다. 맬웨어는 Google에서만 볼 수 있는 경우가 많기 때문에 이 항목을 목록의 맨 위에 둡니다.

• 정크 메타 설명: 웹 페이지에는 특정 페이지의 내용을 암시하는 문맥 메타 설명이 있습니다. WordPress 해킹은 여기에 일본어 문자, 관련 없는 키워드 문자열 또는 정크 값으로 표시됩니다.
• 내가 생성하지 않았지만 웹사이트에 있는 페이지에 대한 결과: 누군가가 순위 키워드를 검색하면 웹 사이트가 결과에 이러한 추가 및 예기치 않은 페이지를 표시하기 때문에 이것은 특히 놀라운 감각입니다.
• Google 블랙리스트: 방문자가 검색 결과에서 귀하의 웹사이트를 클릭하면 Google은 방문자에게 귀하의 웹사이트에 맬웨어가 포함되어 있으며 안전하지 않다고 알리는 대규모 빨간색 경고를 표시합니다. 이것은 세이프 브라우징 이니셔티브의 일부이며 다른 검색 엔진에서도 이를 사용하여 사용자를 보호합니다.
• '사이트가 해킹당했을 수 있음' 알림: Google 블랙리스트의 라이트 버전은 검색 결과의 웹사이트 제목 아래에 '사이트가 해킹되었을 수 있습니다' 메시지를 표시하는 것입니다.

2. 웹사이트의 문제

WordPress Hacks는 모든 사람이 볼 수 있도록 웹사이트에 직접 표시될 수 있습니다. 이는 일반적으로 해커가 웹사이트를 손상시키거나 피싱과 같은 사회 공학 공격을 지속하기를 원하기 때문입니다.

관리자 또는 사용자로 로그인한 경우 이러한 페이지가 표시될 수 있지만 작성하지 않은 페이지 또는 게시물이 표시되는 경우 다음 중 하나와 유사할 가능성이 있습니다.

• 스팸 페이지 :웹사이트의 스팸 페이지는 대부분 검색 결과에 표시되는 것과 동일합니다. 스팸 페이지는 순위가 매겨진 웹사이트에 삽입되어 다른 웹사이트에 대한 인바운드 링크를 생성합니다. 이것은 SEO를 위한 놀이이며 결과적으로 대상 웹사이트의 순위를 높입니다.
• 스팸 팝업: 이름에서 알 수 있듯이 이들은 스팸성이며 사용자가 멀웨어를 다운로드하거나 사기적으로 다른 웹사이트로 이동하게 하려는 웹사이트의 팝업입니다. 팝업은 맬웨어 또는 광고 네트워크를 통해 웹사이트에서 활성화한 광고로 인해 발생할 수 있습니다. 광고 네트워크는 일반적으로 광고주 콘텐츠와 관련하여 보안 정책을 가지고 있지만 이상한 멀웨어는 여전히 예기치 않게 침투할 수 있습니다.
• 다른 웹사이트로 자동 리디렉션: 이 증상은 게시물과 페이지가 리디렉션될 뿐만 아니라 때로는 wp-login 페이지도 리디렉션되기 때문에 사용자에게 최대 스트레스를 줍니다. 이것은 그들이 웹사이트에 무엇이 잘못되었는지 보기에 충분히 오래 머물 수 없다는 것을 의미합니다. 그렇기 때문에 자동 리디렉션과 이를 수정하는 방법에 대한 전체 기사를 보유하고 있습니다.
• 피싱 페이지: 피싱은 소셜 엔지니어링 공격의 한 유형으로, 사람들이 합법적인 웹사이트나 서비스, 특히 은행인 것처럼 가장하여 자발적으로 데이터를 공유하도록 속입니다. 종종 고객 웹사이트에서 피싱 페이지를 볼 때 코드에서 은행 로고 이미지 파일을 발견했습니다.
• 부분적으로 깨진 페이지: 웹사이트의 일부 페이지 상단이나 하단에 코드가 표시될 수 있습니다. 언뜻보기에는 코드 오류처럼 보일 수 있으며 때로는 플러그인이나 테마의 오작동으로 인해 발생할 수 있습니다. 그러나 맬웨어의 존재를 나타낼 수도 있습니다.
• 죽음의 흰색 화면: 웹 사이트를 방문하면 브라우저가 비어 있습니다. 오류 메시지도 없고 아무것도 없습니다. 상호 작용하거나 수정할 것이 없으므로 웹사이트에 무엇이 잘못되었는지에 대한 단서가 없습니다.

3. WordPress 웹사이트의 백엔드 변경

이러한 변경 사항은 극도로 경계하거나 활동 로그가 설치되어 있지 않은 한 웹 사이트 관리자가 종종 놓칩니다.

• 웹사이트 코드 변경: WordPress 웹 사이트는 코드로 구축되므로 이러한 변경 사항은 핵심 WordPress 파일, 플러그인 또는 테마에 있을 수 있습니다. 기본적으로 멀웨어는 어디에나 있을 수 있습니다.
• 게시물 및 페이지 또는 새 페이지에 대한 예상치 못한 변경: 게시물 및 페이지가 추가되거나 기존 항목이 변경됩니다. 많은 고객들이 웹사이트 콘텐츠를 관리하는 유일한 사람임에도 불구하고 이러한 변경 사항을 보고 있다고 보고했습니다. 새 페이지는 Google 검색 결과, 분석 및 사이트맵을 포함하여 웹사이트의 색인을 생성하는 모든 항목에 표시될 수 있습니다.
• 관리자 권한이 있는 예기치 않은 사용자: 어떤 경우에는 웹사이트 관리자가 웹사이트에서 생성되는 새 계정에 대한 이메일을 받았습니다. 계정에는 대개 횡설수설한 이름이나 이메일 주소가 있었는데 대부분 둘 다였습니다. 그들은 새 계정 생성에 대해 경고하는 설정을 활성화했기 때문에 이 비정상적인 활동에 대해 경고를 받았습니다.
• 설정이 변경됨: 물론 웹사이트마다 설정이 다르기 때문에 이 증상은 웹사이트마다 다를 수 있습니다. 어떤 사용자는 계정 생성 설정이 변경되었다고 보고했고 다른 사용자는 index.php 파일이 다르다고 말했습니다. 관리자가 원래 상태로 되돌리려고 할 때마다 설정이 바로 다시 변경되었습니다.
• 가짜 플러그인: 많은 악성 코드가 겉보기에 합법적인 폴더와 파일에 교묘하게 숨겨져 있습니다. 가짜 플러그인은 실제 플러그인의 스타일을 모방하지만 파일이 거의 없거나 일반적으로 명명 규칙을 따르지 않는 이상한 이름을 가지고 있습니다. 이것은 확실한 진단은 아니지만 식별을 위한 좋은 경험 법칙입니다.

4. 웹 호스트가 웹사이트 문제를 신고합니다.

웹 호스트는 서버의 맬웨어가 큰 문제를 일으키기 때문에 웹 사이트에 맬웨어가 없는지 확인하는 데 특히 투자합니다. 대부분의 우수한 웹 호스트는 정기적으로 웹사이트를 검사하고 사용자에게 사이트의 맬웨어에 대해 알립니다.

• 웹사이트를 오프라인으로 전환: 웹 호스트가 계정을 일시 중지했거나 웹사이트를 오프라인으로 전환한 경우 이는 문제가 있다는 첫 번째 신호입니다. 웹 호스트가 정책 위반 또는 미지불 청구서로 인해 웹사이트를 일시 중단할 수도 있지만 맬웨어가 이러한 이동의 큰 이유입니다. 변함없이 그들은 이메일로 이유를 설명할 것입니다. 악성코드를 감지한 경우 스캐너가 감지한 해킹된 파일 목록을 요청하고 웹사이트에 액세스하여 치료할 수 있도록 IP를 화이트리스트에 추가하도록 요청하는 것이 좋습니다.
• 과도한 서버 사용량: 이 경우 웹 호스트로부터 웹 사이트가 계획 한도를 초과했거나 접근하고 있다는 이메일을 받게 됩니다. 다시 말하지만 캠페인이나 프로모션과 같은 다른 이유로 인해 트래픽이 급증할 수 있으므로 이것이 결정적인 증상은 아닙니다. 또는 아마도 화제의 이유가 있습니다. 하지만 봇 공격과 해킹은 엄청난 양의 서버 리소스를 소모하므로 서버 리소스 사용량이 예기치 않게 급증하는 경우 조사하는 것이 가장 좋습니다.

5. 성능 문제

맬웨어는 웹 사이트 내에서 엄청난 영역을 망칠 수 있습니다. 이전에 말했듯이 새 페이지나 새 사용자와 같이 증상이 보이지 않거나 명시적이지 않은 경우가 있습니다.

• 사이트가 느려짐
• 사이트에 액세스할 수 없음 , 서버 리소스가 모두 사용되어 방문자에게 503 또는 504 오류가 표시됩니다. 지역 차단 또는 .htaccess 파일 변경과 같이 사이트에 액세스할 수 없게 되는 다른 방법이 있습니다.

6. 사용자 경험 문제

그러나 방문자에게는 여전히 증상이 나타나며 이는 끔찍한 경험이며 브랜드에 부정적인 영향을 미칩니다.

• 사용자가 웹사이트에 로그인할 수 없음
• 방문자는 웹사이트에서 리디렉션됩니다.
• 웹사이트의 이메일이 스팸 폴더로 이동
• 방문객이 팝업 또는 피싱 페이지와 같은 멀웨어 증상에 대해 불평합니다.

7. 분석에서 예기치 않은 동작

분석은 많은 점에서 진실의 원천이며 맬웨어 감염의 징후는 그 중 하나일 뿐입니다.

• Search Console은 보안 문제를 표시합니다. Google Search Console은 프런트엔드 스캐너와 마찬가지로 웹사이트 프런트엔드를 검색하고 멀웨어를 찾을 수 있습니다. 대시보드에 경고가 표시되거나 보안 문제 탭에서 플래그가 지정된 페이지가 표시됩니다.
• 특정 국가의 트래픽 증가: 트래픽 증가는 예상치 못한 경우 맬웨어의 신호일 수 있습니다. Google Analytics는 어쨌든 대부분의 봇 트래픽을 걸러내지만 경우에 따라 사용자는 특정 국가에서 급증하는 것을 볼 수 있습니다. 이 증상은 일반적으로 지역적으로 관련된 웹사이트에서 더 분명합니다.

잘못된 업데이트나 서버 문제 또는 코딩 오류로 인해 웹사이트가 오작동할 가능성이 약간 있습니다. 그러나 이러한 항목이 두 개 이상 표시되면 웹사이트가 해킹되었을 가능성이 큽니다.

기억해야 할 몇 가지 핵심 사항

• 해커는 멀웨어가 최대한 오랫동안 탐지되지 않기를 원하므로 많은 증상이 웹사이트 관리자 및/또는 로그인한 사용자에게 위장됩니다.
• 일부는 항상 보일 수 있습니다. 일부는 가끔/일관되지 않을 수 있습니다.
• 일부 해킹은 모든 사람에게 완전히 보이지 않습니다. 악성코드에 따라
• 일부 멀웨어는 Google에만 표시되고 다른 사용자에게는 표시되지 않습니다.

B. 해킹에 대한 WordPress 웹사이트 스캔

위 목록에서 해킹된 WordPress 사이트의 여러 증상을 보았더라도 해킹의 결정적인 지표는 아닙니다. WordPress 해킹 여부를 알 수 있는 유일한 방법 웹사이트를 스캔하는 것입니다.

1. 보안 플러그인으로 웹사이트 정밀 검사

MalCare로 웹사이트를 무료로 스캔하여 WordPress가 해킹되었는지 확인하십시오. 웹사이트의 맬웨어에 대한 명확한 답을 얻을 수 있습니다.

우리는 여러 가지 이유로 MalCare를 권장하지만 주로 웹 사이트에서 100건의 해킹을 보고 정리했기 때문입니다. 당황한 웹사이트 관리자는 웹사이트에 로그인할 수 없거나 탐지된 맬웨어 때문에 웹 호스트가 계정을 일시 중지했기 때문에 매주 이메일을 보냅니다.

MalCare의 스캐너는 완전 무료입니다. WordPress 사이트가 손상되었는지 여부에 대한 결정적인 보고서를 받으면 자동 정리 기능을 사용하여 파일과 데이터베이스에서 즉시 맬웨어를 제거하도록 업그레이드할 수 있습니다.

다른 보안 플러그인은 파일 일치를 사용하여 맬웨어를 식별합니다. 이는 불완전한 메커니즘이며 오탐지 및 누락된 맬웨어 문제로 이어집니다. 기술에 대해 너무 깊이 들어가지 않고, 멀웨어에 새로운 변종이 있고 분명히 이러한 일치 목록에 없으면 메커니즘이 바로 실패합니다. 이것은 실패하는 방법 중 하나일 뿐입니다. 또한 플러그인은 사이트 리소스를 사용하여 이러한 스캔을 실행합니다. 이것은 웹사이트를 상당히 느리게 합니다.

MalCare는 맬웨어를 식별하기 위해 파일 일치에 의존하지 않지만 코드에서 100개 이상의 특성을 검사하여 안전하거나 위험한 것으로 간주하는 정교한 알고리즘을 가지고 있습니다.

2. 온라인 보안 스캐너를 사용하여 스캔

웹사이트를 스캔하는 두 번째 대안은 온라인 보안 스캐너를 사용하는 것입니다. 모든 스캐너가 동일하게 제작된 것은 아니며 온라인 보안 스캐너는 반드시 보안 플러그인보다 효율성이 떨어집니다.

사람들은 웹 사이트를 스캔하기 위해 보안 플러그인을 추가하는 데 주저할 수 있지만 핵심이 있습니다. 프론트엔드 스캐너는 웹사이트에서 공개적으로 볼 수 있는 부분에만 액세스할 수 있습니다. 구성 파일이 인터넷의 모든 사람에게 표시되는 것을 원하지 않기 때문에 공개적으로 표시되지 않는 코드를 갖는 것이 좋습니다.

Unfortunately though, malware is not considerate enough to only attack publicly visible files. It can hide anywhere, and in fact, will hide in places that frontend scanners cannot reach. That’s why site-level scanners are most effective.

Our advice is to use an online security scanner as the first line of diagnostics. If it turns out positive, that’s a good starting point to move to clean hacked WordPress website. However, a word of caution:do not rely exclusively on lists of hacked files that the scanner gives you. Those are just the ones that the scanner was able to flag. There are potentially many, many more instances of the malicious code.

3. Scan for malware manually

Although we are including this section in the article, we strongly advise against anyone attempting to deal with malware manually—scanning or cleaning.

A good security plugin, like MalCare, is really the way to go, because it will do everything that’s in this section, but faster and better. Remember that the WordPress hack is getting worse the longer it is left unattended.

Scanning your hacked WordPress site for malware essentially means looking for junk code in files and the database. We are aware that ‘junk code’ means very little in terms of guidance, but hacks come in different forms. They each look and behave differently.

We have provided code examples of hacks in a later section, but we must stress that they are indicative only.

If you are opting to manually scan your website for malicious code, check for recently modified files , and make sure to look in both the files and the database. A word of caution here:update times can also be changed. A clever hacker can set the updated timestamp to something entirely different.

Tip: Keep a log of your actions when scanning your website. It helps in the debugging process later on, in case your website only behaves oddly when accessed by mobile for instance. Or if you see a suspicious-looking script tag in one of the files.

C. Other diagnostic steps to check for malware

There are a few other checks that you can use to determine if your WordPress site has been hacked. Some of these overlap slightly with the symptoms listed above, but we are including them here on the off chance that the symptom didn’t appear organically.

1. Log in from an incognito browser

If you see a symptom once, like a redirect, but cannot replicate it, then try logging in from a different computer or an incognito browser. Hackers set cookies to create the illusion that any anomalies you see on your website are just that:anomalies, and not signs of hacks.

Try Googling your website and clicking through from there. Does your website load correctly? How about if you put the URL directly in the browser? What happens then?

We mentioned this before, but do keep notes of what you did to replicate the symptoms. Did you log in from a mobile device, or are you clicking through from Google search results? These clues help identify the hack location to some extent.

2. Check the number of pages on your website

As a website admin, you have an approximate idea of the number of indexed pages on your website. Google your website with the site search operator, and check the number of results. If the number of results exceeds your approximation significantly, it means that more pages of your website are being indexed on Google. If you didn’t create those pages, then they are a result of malware.

3. Check activity logs

An activity log is an essential admin tool for website management, especially if you want to know what each user is doing. In the case of malware, check the activity log for new users or those who have suddenly elevated privileges, like moving from Writer to Admin.

Ghost users can have weird usernames or email addresses, and these are the ones to look out for. If they change a bunch of posts and pages in a short period of time, then this is a good sign that the user accounts are fraudulent.

4. Look for strange trends in analytics data

Quite apart from the fact that hacks can cause Google to deindex your website altogether, there are some early warning signs that you can look for.

• Traffic sources and levels stay relatively the same, unless there is a change that prompts spikes, like a promotion. So spikes in traffic, especially from specific countries in short bursts of time can be indicative of something fishy.
• Engagement data, like conversion goals and bounce rates can also take a hit with hacks. Are people visiting your pages less? Why would that happen if SEO data and other factors remain the same? These are the kinds of questions you can ask of your analytics, as you would largely know what it should be.

5. Check for fake plugins

In your website’s /wp-content folder, you should see only plugins and themes that you have installed. Any weird ones with short, meaningless names, and perhaps ones that don’t follow naming conventions are the ones to scrutinize carefully.

Typically fake plugins will have a single file in the folder, or 2 at the very most.

6. Look for reported vulnerabilities in your plugins and themes

On your WordPress dashboard, look for plugins that have an ‘Update available’ tag. Next, Google to check if they have experienced any vulnerabilities recently. You can cross-reference the reported vulnerability with the type of hack it is susceptible to and figure out if your website is experiencing any of those telltale signs.

Some hacks are entirely invisible to admin, and there are others that are only visible to search engines. That is the nature of malware. It is difficult to pinpoint with any degree of accuracy without a proper scanner.

7. Check the .htaccess file

The .htaccess file is responsible for directing incoming requests to various parts of your website. For example, if your website is being accessed from a mobile device, the .htaccess loads up the mobile version of your website, instead of the desktop version.

If you are familiar with core WordPress files, check out the .htaccess file. Are the user agents loading up the correct files?

Malware like the SEO spam hack or the Japanese keyword hack will change the code of the googlebot user agent. Most commonly, it should load up the index.php file, but if it is hacked and a visitor clicks through from Google, an entirely different website will load instead of yours. Visiting your website directly, with the URL in the address bar, will load up the correct website, because the user agent detected is not googlebot.

8. Look for alerts from existing security plugins

Although this is not technically a diagnostic, we’re including previously installed security plugins in this list as well. If your security plugin scans your website regularly, it should alert you to any hacks. Depending on the security plugin you use, the alerts can be genuine or false positives. Our recommendation is to take every alert seriously because while false positives are unnecessarily alarming, on the off chance that the threat is genuine, much loss can result from ignoring a threat.

With MalCare, because of the way we have built our malware detection engine, the chances of a false positive is slim to none. That’s why website admin relies on our plugin to keep their websites safe.

There is a common misconception that installing several security plugins makes your website safer, presumably because whatever one plugin misses, the other one will catch. The problem with this premise is two-fold:firstly, that’s not actually the case. New and sophisticated malware will slip through most security plugins, except MalCare; and secondly, by adding multiple security plugins, you’re effectively weighing down your website so much, it will impact its performance dramatically.

How to clean your hacked WordPress site?

A hacked WordPress website is a scary prospect. We’ve spent a great deal of time in this article to figure out whether or not it is hacked. If you scanned with MalCare, you will have a definitive answer one way or another.

There are 3 options you have when dealing with a hacked WordPress site:

1. Use a security plugin to clean the hack
2. Hire a WordPress security expert
3. Clean the hack manually

We will talk about each of these in turn.

A. [RECOMMENDED] Use a security plugin to clean your website

We recommend you use MalCare to clean your website of hacks. It is by far the best security plugin for WordPress websites, and uses an intelligent system to remove only malware, while keeping your website entirely intact.

To use MalCare for WordPress hack cleanup, all you need to do is:

1. Install MalCare on your website
2. Run the scan, and wait for the results
3. Click auto-clean to surgically remove the malware from your website

The cleanup takes place in a matter of minutes, and your website is pristine once again.

If you used MalCare to scan your website when you were checking for malware, then all you need to do is upgrade and clean.

Why do we recommend MalCare?

• Removes only hacks from files and the database, leaving good code and data perfectly intact
• Detects vulnerabilities and backdoors that hackers leave behind and addresses those as well
• Comes with an integrated firewall to protect your website from brute force attacks

MalCare protects thousands of websites daily, and takes a proactive approach to website security. If you need further assistance with your website, our support team is available 24/7 to help users.

B. Hire a security expert to clean hacked WordPress site

If your WordPress website has been hacked for a while, your web host may have suspended your account and taken your website offline. Therefore, it isn’t possible to install a security plugin to clean the hack.

Don’t worry, in these cases, contact our emergency malware removal service to fix hacked WordPress site. A dedicated security expert will guide you through speaking to your web host to get IPs whitelisted to regain access, and therefore install the plugin for cleaning.

If your web host refuses to whitelist IPs because of their policies, then the expert will use SFTP to clean your website of malware in the shortest amount of time.

You can also opt to go with a WordPress security expert outside of MalCare. However, please be aware that security experts are expensive, and they do not guarantee against reinfection. Many security plugins that perform manual cleanups charge per cleanup, which is a cost that adds up very quickly with repeated infections.

C. Clean WordPress hacked infections manually

It is possible to remove malware manually from your website. In fact, in extreme cases, it is sometimes the only viable option. However we keep advising against it, and we’ve expanded a little on our reasons below.

If you do choose to clean up hacked WordPress website manually, then you should have a few prerequisites in order to be successful:

• You understand WordPress thoroughly. The file structure, how the core files work, how the database interacts with your website. You will also need to know everything about your website:plugins, themes, users, etc. The malware can be hidden in any file, including important ones, and if you merely delete the file, you can break your website.
  
  
• You need to be able to read code and understand code logic. For instance, removing a hacked file from the root folder is a good thing. But if your .htaccess file was loading that file on login, then your visitors will see a 404 page.
  
  This is not an easy thing to know, and many scanners generate false positives because they cannot distinguish between custom code and bad code.
  
  
• Familiarity with cPanel tools, like File Manager and phpMyAdmin. Also, make sure you have SFTP access to your website. Your web host can help with getting that information.

1. Get access to your website

If your web host has suspended your account, or taken your website offline, you need to regain access to it. If you use SFTP, this is not an obstacle, but it is best to ask them to whitelist your IP so that you can view the website at the very least.

Additionally, the web host suspended your account after scanning your website and detecting malware. You can reach out to their support to ask for the list of infected files. Frontend scanners will also give you this information, although it may not be completely accurate and/or have false positives.

2. Take a backup of your website

We cannot stress this enough:please take a backup of your website before doing anything at all to it. A hacked site is much better than no site.

Firstly, things can go awry when people poke around in website code, and often do. That’s when backups save the day. You can restore the website, and start again.

Secondly, web hosts can delete your website altogether, if it is hacked. They have a vested interest in making sure there is no malware on their servers, and they will do whatever is necessary to ensure that is the case.

If a web host deletes your website, the chances of them having a backup are slim. Getting that backup from their support is even slimmer. We strongly advocate taking your own backups always.

We also recommend using a WordPress backup plugin for large files. We have seen restore fails abysmally with web host backups. When your website is hacked and you are cleaning it, you want to reduce complexity and chances of failure as much as possible.

3. Download clean installs of WordPress core, plugins and themes

Make a list of the versions that are on your website, and download clean installs of the core, plugins and themes from the WordPress repository. If you weren’t using the latest version of anything, make sure to download the version that was installed on your website. This is an important step, because you will be using the installs to compare files and code first.

Once you have downloaded and unzipped the installations, compare the files and folders with the ones on your website. To speed up the comparison process somewhat, use an online diffchecker to ferret out the differences in code.

Incidentally, this file matching is the primary mechanism that most scanners use. It is not a perfect mechanism, because you may have important custom code that will not show up in the clean installs. Therefore, now is not the time to delete. Take lots of notes, and mark out which files and folders are different from the originals.

This is also a good way to discover if your website has fake plugins installed. You will not find fake plugins on the repository, and they invariably do not follow plugin naming conventions and have very few files (sometimes just one) in the folder.

Note:Are you using nulled plugins or themes? Installing nulled software is like rolling out the red carpet for malware. When you pay for premium plugins, you are getting maintained software, the expectation of support in case something goes wrong, and the guarantee of safe code. Nulled software often comes packaged with backdoors or even malware.

A quick reminder to backup your website, if you chose to skip this step earlier. This is go-time. Cleaning malware out of your website is the hardest (and the most terrifying) step in this process.

4. Reinstall WordPress core

Use either File Manager in cPanel or SFTP to access your website files, and replace the following folders entirely:

• /wp-admin
• /wp-includes

You can do this without a problem, because none of your content or configurations are stored in these folders. As a matter of fact, there should not be anything in these folders that differs from the clean installations.

Next, check the following files for strange code:

• index.php
• wp-config.php
• wp-settings.php
• wp-load.php
• .htaccess

In a later section, we will talk about individual hacks and malware and how they appear in files and folders. Malware can manifest in many different ways, and there is no surefire way to identify them visually. You may come across advice online to look for odd-looking PHP scripts in these files, and get rid of those. However, this is very poor advice and users have flocked to our support team in the aftermath of breaking their websites. MalCare tests out each script to evaluate its behavior before determining if it is malicious or not.

Speaking of PHP files, the /wp-uploads shouldn’t have any at all. So you can delete any that you see there with impunity.

So we can’t actually predict what malicious code you are likely to see in any of these files. Please refer to a comprehensive list of WordPress files to understand what each does, their interconnectivity with each other, and if the files on your website behave differently. This is where an understanding of code logic will be immensely helpful.

If it is an entire file that’s bad, our advice is not to delete it right off the bat. Instead, rename the file extension from PHP to something else, like phptest, so that it cannot run anymore. If it is code in a legitimate file, then you can delete it, because you have backups if something breaks.

5. Clean plugin and theme folders

The /wp-content folder has all the plugin and theme files. Using the clean installs that you have downloaded, you can perform the same check as with the WordPress core installation and look for differences in the code.

We just want to point out that changes are not necessarily bad. Customizations will show up as changes in the code. If you have tweaked settings and configurations to get a plugin or theme to work just so on your website, expect to see at least minor changes. If you don’t have an issue wiping out customization entirely, then replace all the plugin and theme files with the fresh installs.

Generally, people are unwilling to write off any work they have put in, with good reason. So a lengthier method is to examine the code for differences instead. It is helpful to know what each script does and how it interacts with the rest of the website. Malware scripts can exist harmlessly in one file, until they are executed by another entirely innocuous-looking script in a completely different location. This tag team aspect of malware is one of the reasons it is so difficult to clean websites manually.

Another aspect of cleaning plugins and themes is that there can be a lot of them. Going through each one is a painstaking and time-consuming process. Our advice is to start in the most typical places to find malware.

In the files of the active theme, check:

• header.php
• footer.php
• functions.php

In the diagnostics section, we talked about researching if any of the plugins installed had a recently discovered vulnerability. We recommend starting with those files. Questions to ask here are:

• Have any been hacked recently
• Are any not updated

Did you find any fake plugins in the previous step? Those you can delete without a second thought. Although, don’t stop looking after that! The malware hunt isn’t over just yet.

Keep in mind that malware is supposed to look normal, and will mimic legitimate file names. We’ve come across some wolves in sheep’s clothing, where the stock WordPress themes like twentysixteen or twentytwelve have small typos that make them look virtually the same.

The clean installs will help with comparison and identification, but if you are unsure, contact the developers for support.

6. Clean malware from database

Extract the database from your backup, or if you haven’t taken one as yet, use phpMyAdmin to get a download of your database.

• Check the tables for any odd content or scripts in your existing pages and posts. You know what these are supposed to look like and do when they load on your website.
• Look for newly created pages and posts too. These will not show up in your wp-admin dashboard.

In some cases, like the redirect hack, the wp_options table will have an unfamiliar URL in the site_URL property. If the redirect malware is in the wp_posts table, it will be in every single post.

Revert modified settings to what they should be, and remove malicious content carefully.

Again, depending on the size of your website, this can be a gargantuan task. The first hurdle is to identify the malware, and where it is. If it is the same malware script on each post and page, then you’re in luck. You can use SQL to extract the content from every file. However, be warned that, while removing a single lot of malware is great, you cannot be sure that’s the only hack on your website.

If you have an e-commerce website, with critical user and order information, double- and triple-check you are indeed getting rid of malware only.

7. Check your root for suspicious files

When going through the files of your website, have a look at the root folder too. It can also have malware files stored there. All PHP files are not bad, and some plugins add scripts to the root to perform certain tasks. For instance, BlogVault adds its Emergency Connector script to the root of a website, so that the plugin can restore a backup even if the site is inaccessible. Other security plugins will flag it as malware, even those it definitely isn’t.

8. Remove all backdoors

Malware often leaves behind exploits in websites known as backdoors, just in case they are discovered and removed. Backdoors enable hackers to reinfect websites almost immediately, therefore wiping out all the cleaning effort.

Just like malware, backdoors can be anywhere. Some code to look for is:

• eval
• base64_decode
• gzinflate
• preg_replace
• str_rot13

These are functions that allow external access, which is not inherently a bad thing. They have legitimate use cases, and are often altered subtly to act as backdoors. Exercise caution when deleting these without analysis.

9. Reupload your cleaned files

The worst is over, now that you have cleaned out the malware from your website. Now it is a question of rebuilding your website. First, delete the existing files and database, and then upload the cleaned versions in their place.

Use File Manager and phpMyAdmin on cPanel to do this for files and the database respectively. By now, you are a pro at handling these features. If you need more help, you can refer to our article on restoring a manual backup. The process is the same.

Don’t be discouraged if large restores don’t work. cPanel struggles to handle data above a certain limit. You can use SFTP to do this step as well.

10. Clear the cache

After putting your site together again, and checking it a few times to see if everything works as expected, clear the cache. The cache stores earlier versions of your website, in order to reduce loading time for visitors. So that your website behaves as expected after the clean-up, empty out the cache.

11. Verify each of the plugins and themes

Now that you have reinstalled your website, with cleaned versions of this software, check the functionality of each. Do they work as you expected?

If yes, that’s great. If not, go back to the old plugin folders and see what didn’t make it over to the cleaned website. Chances are, some of that code is responsible for the missing functionality. You can then replicate the code to your website again, being very cautious that those bits aren’t malware-ridden.

We recommend you do this one plugin and theme at a time. You can rename the plugin folders temporarily, thereby effectively deactivating them. The same method works for theme folders.

12. Repeat this process subdomains and nested WordPress installations

This may not apply to you, but we’ve seen several websites with second WordPress installations on their main site. This could be the result of several things, like a site design, a subdomain, or even a forgotten staging site.

If there was malware on your primary WordPress site, then it could and will have contaminated the nested installation. The reverse is also true. If your nested installation has malware, it will reinfect the website you just cleaned.

Typically, we ask users to remove any unused WordPress installations altogether. They are an unnecessary hazard.

13. Use a security scanner to confirm

You’re almost at the finish line! This was a rough ride, and you should take a moment to appreciate the feat you pulled off. Even WordPress experts aren’t always comfortable with a WordPress hack cleanup manually, preferring to use tools instead.

All that’s now left is to confirm that the malware has really gone from your website. Use MalCare’s free scanner to get that confirmation, and you are good to go!

Why you should avoid manually cleaning a hacked WordPress site?

We strongly advise against manual cleaning, even though we have included the steps above. If you liken a hack to an illness, you would rather a qualified medical professional perform life-saving surgery, wouldn’t you? Imagine trying to remove your appendix yourself, and you get where we are going with this analogy.

Hacks, like invasive infections, get progressively worse with time. If malware is destroying your website data, for instance, acting fast could save you a great deal of time and resources. Not to mention, save your website too.

As malware replicates itself, it spreads into different files and folders, creates ghost admin users to regain entry if it is detected, and overall wreaks havoc.

On top of this, recovery becomes significantly harder. We’ve had users come to us with half-destroyed websites that they’ve tried to clean themselves, failed, and now are in desperate straits, trying to save whatever is left. We can do our best, but we can’t magic back their lost data for them—a situation that could have been avoided with some timely action.

The only reason we are reiterating this so many times is that we genuinely care about our users, and feel terrible every time we have to tell them that their data cannot be retrieved.

To recap, here are the things that can go wrong with manual WordPress hack removal:

• Malware can spread into unexpected places, and is difficult to find. If you clean only some of it, the rest will soon reinfect your website again.
• Removing just the malware is not good enough if the vulnerability and/or backdoor isn’t found and resolved
• You have to know what each file does and how it interacts with others, otherwise, you could inadvertently break your website
• Large sites (like e-commerce stores) will take ages to go through, file by file. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.
• And last by not least, hacks cause increasingly more damage as time wears on

There are so many things that can go horribly wrong with manual cleanups. Trust us, we have seen our fair share. If your wordpress site is compromised, the best course of action to return your site to good health is to install a security plugin.

Why you shouldn’t repair your website using a backup?

In spite of being huge advocates of backups, we do not recommend reverting your website to a previous version. There are several reasons for this:

• You will lose all the changes you made in between
• The backup shouldn’t have the malware either, and unless you have a precise idea of when your website had malware, this is hard to ascertain
• The backup will have the vulnerabilities that led to the malware infection in the first place

The only time you should consider using a backup as a starting point is if the malware has destroyed your website and data beyond retrieval. We genuinely hope that it doesn’t ever reach that stage, and installing a good security plugin will save you from these issues in the future.

How to revert damage after removing hacks

Once your website is free of malware, you can now focus on reverting the damage caused by the hacks in the first place. There are two main stakeholders (apart from your visitors and you) with respect to your website:the web host and Google.

Regaining access to a website

Contact your web host once you are done with the cleaning, and ask them to rescan your website. You can also detail the steps you have taken in order to resolve the issue. Invariably, this will result in your access being restored and your site being back online.

Getting your site removed from Google’s blacklist

If your website landed up on Google’s blacklist, then you need to request a review. You can do that by going into your Google Search Console and clicking on Security Issues. There, you should see an alert for harmful content, detailing which files contain them.

At the very bottom of this alert, you will find a button to request a review. You have to undertake that you have fixed the issues, and provide a detailed explanation of all the steps you took for each issue listed.

Once the request is submitted, you should hear the outcome of the request in a few days.

Brand damage control

This step is purely optional, and it is just advice. As we will talk about later, hacks almost always damage reputation. If you can, publicly acknowledge what happened, what steps you took to fix it, and how you plan to prevent it in the future.

Honesty goes a long way in rebuilding relationships, and there have been instances where well-handled hacks have led to increased brand value.

How to keep your WordPress site from being hacked?

One of the worst parts about malware is that it keeps coming back, either through backdoors or through exploiting the same vulnerabilities as before.

We share this security checklist with our customers to help them prevent WordPress sites from being hacked in the future.

1. Install a security plugin: We cannot sufficiently emphasise the benefits of a good security plugin like MalCare, which can scan, clean, and prevent hacks. In addition to being able to quickly diagnose and clean hacks, MalCare protects your website from a lot of Internet nastiness, like bots, with an advanced firewall. The best part about MalCare is that, unlike other security plugins, it will not use up your server resources, so your site will hum along optimally and still be protected.

1. Choose your plugins and themes wisely: We highly recommend sticking to plugins and themes from reputed developers only. Not only will the developers provide support when required, but will maintain the plugin or theme code with constant updates. Updates are critical to patch vulnerabilities, and are your first line of defence against hacks.
   
   If you feel that nulled themes and plugins will save you money, you will end up losing whatever you save many times over when the inevitable hack occurs. Nulled themes and plugins are not only unethical, but downright dangerous.

7. Harden WordPress: There are measures to toughen up security, commonly known as WordPress hardening. We would caution you to be mindful of following the immense advice available online. Some of it is downright bad and will impact your website and visitors’ experience. Follow this guide to harden your website responsibly.

8. Update everything: All updates, whether WordPress, plugin, or theme, are necessary and should be done as soon as possible. Updates usually address issues in the code, like security vulnerabilities. It is especially critical because when security researchers discover vulnerabilities, they disclose them to the developer who then releases a patch for it. The researcher then discloses the vulnerability publicly, and that’s when mayhem erupts. Hackers will try their luck with any websites that don’t have the update installed.
   
   The resistance to WordPress updates is understandable, because it can disrupt operations, especially if something breaks. The safest way to implement updates is to use a staging site first, and then merge changes to live.
   
9. Implement an activity log: In order to keep a close eye on changes made to your website, an activity log is immensely useful. Apart from monitoring regular changes, unexpected changes like new users can signal that someone has unauthorized access. It will help you catch hacks early.
   
10. Use SFTP instead of FTP: Similar to SSL, SFTP is a secure way to use FTP to access your website backend on the server. Most admin avoid using FTP at all, because it tends to be slow and painstaking to work with. However, in case you cannot log into your website, FTP becomes necessary.
    
11. Remove secondary WordPress installations if not in use: We’ve seen this several times. Malware reappears on freshly cleaned websites, because there is a second website on the same cPanel with malware. It works both ways in fact. If either of the sites has malware, it is only a matter of time before the other one is infected.
    
    There are various reasons that you would have a second website installed on cPanel, and all of them are legitimate:site redesign, staging site, or even a subdomain. However, several times users forget about the second website, even to update or monitor it. It then gets hacked because of vulnerabilities, and the malware works its way into the main website.
    
12. Choose a good host: This is a somewhat subjective point, but it pays to do research to pick a good host. The general rule is to pick an established brand name and check how they have handled issues in the past. You want to have a web host that has responsive support, invests in their infrastructure, and has security certifications.
    
13. Invest in backups: We’ve said this a few times already in this article, but backups are non-negotiable. Backups are invaluable when all else fails, and our customers have been able to retrieve 100% of their website even after really bad hacks solely because of backups.
    
14. Have a security plan in place/things to do regularly: Last, but certainly not least, have a plan in place to run through diagnostics regularly. Also, there are a few things that should be done to a cadence:review users, require password changes, monitor activity logs, update regularly, check for vulnerability news, and so on. Often, these measures will help avert major security-related disasters early on.
    
    

How did your WordPress website get hacked?

We like to think that everything we use is 100% secure, but that’s unfortunately not true. It isn’t true of our homes, and certainly not the case with our websites. No software is completely bullet-proof, and every part of the website is essentially software:right from WordPress itself, to the plugins and themes.

Vulnerabilities in plugins and themes

When code is written, developers can make oversights or mistakes. These mistakes are called vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities are the single biggest reason why websites get hacked.

Of course, mistakes aren’t made deliberately. Vulnerabilities often just boil down to a developer writing code to accomplish one task, without realizing that a hacker can use the same code in an unintended way to gain unauthorized access to the website.

A good example of this concerns the /wp-uploads folder. In the cleaning section, we mentioned that the /wp-uploads folder should never have PHP scripts. The reason being that the contents of the folder are publicly accessible via the URL and the name of the file.

Therefore, PHP scripts in the uploads folder would also be accessible, and as a result, remotely executable. Therefore the folder should have a check to ensure that the uploads are not PHP files. If someone does try to upload a script, it should be rejected.

To see a list of WordPress vulnerabilities, check out WPScan.

This example also brings up an interesting point. One could argue that the uploads folder should not be publicly accessible, so PHP scripts would not be accessible either. However, this interferes with the functionality of the folder and is not a good fix.

Similarly, we see a ton of poor security advice on the internet, which fixes a vulnerability without taking functionality into consideration.

Undetected backdoors

A backdoor is very much what it sounds like:a way to gain unauthorized access without being detected. Even though backdoors are technically malware—code that has malicious intent—they are not actively damaging. They allow hackers to insert malware into the website.

This distinction is important because it is the primary reason WordPress websites get hacked again after cleanups. Cleanups are effective at getting rid of malware, but not addressing the entry point of the malware.

Security plugins will often flag backdoors by looking for certain functions. But there are 2 problems with this method:firstly, hackers have found ways to mask the functions effectively; and secondly, the functions are not always bad. They have legitimate uses too.

Poor user management policies

There is always an element of human error with hacks, and it mostly comes in the form of the misuse of admin accounts. As a website admin, there are a few things you should always keep top of mind when considering the security of your website.

Weak passwords

Yes, we know passwords are hard to remember. Especially ones that are a mix of characters, and long enough to be considered ‘safe’. However, easier-to-remember passwords are a weak link to your website security. Even a security plugin cannot protect your website if a password has been compromised.

Think of your website like your home, where you’ve installed a state-of-the-art security system, like MalCare. If a thief were to learn your unique passcode to gain entry to your home, the security system wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Strong passwords are critically important for all accounts, but even more so for admin accounts, which brings us to our next point.

Unnecessary user privileges

Users should only ever have enough privileges to accomplish what they need to on a website. A blog writer doesn’t need admin privileges to publish a post, for instance. It is very important to make sure to review these privileges regularly.

Additionally, if a website admin is vigilant about user account levels, an activity log is a great tool to have as well. The activity log lists all the actions performed by users on a website and can be a great early indicator of a compromised user account. If a user who usually writes posts suddenly installs a plugin out of the blue, it is a warning sign.

Old accounts are still active

In addition to reviewing accounts, also remove unused user accounts regularly. If a user is no longer active on your website, there is no reason why their account should be. The reason is the same as before:user accounts can be compromised. Hackers can get hold of credentials and escalate their privileges to admin accounts.

Unsecured communication

Apart from the actual website, communication to and from the website also needs to be secured. If communication is intercepted and is not secured, it can be read easily. So it should be encrypted. This can be easily accomplished by adding SSL to your website.

In fact, SSL is becoming the de facto standard of the internet. Google actively rewards the use of SSL, by punishing websites without it in the SERPs. Some websites show up in the search results as ‘Site not secure’, as part of their Safe Browsing initiative.

On similar lines, it is always better to use SFTP instead of FTP, whenever possible.

Web host issues

In our experience, web hosts are rarely responsible for hacks. Most hosts implement loads of security measures to make sure that the websites they host are secure.

For instance, people often think that their websites have got malware because they are on shared hosting plans. This is a misconception most of the time, because hosts implement barriers between sites. The real cause of cross-site infections is when there are multiple WordPress installations on a single cPanel instance.

Is WordPress more prone to hacks than other CMS?

Yes and No.

The immense popularity of WordPress means that it attracts a lot more hackers to it. Very simply, there is a larger payoff for hackers if they are able to discover and exploit a vulnerability in the ecosystem.

Additionally, WordPress-related vulnerabilities get a lot more attention, again because of its popularity. Similar instances with, say Joomla, would not merit as much discussion.

In actual fact, WordPress has solved many of the problems that still exist with other CMS. It also has a terrific community and ecosystem as well. Help and support is easily available, even for niche and specific issues that a website admin may face.

Understanding WordPress hacks

If you have a security plugin like MalCare installed, you don’t need to worry about hacks. We constantly upgrade the plugin to counteract new attacks, in order to protect websites better. However, it is interesting to understand how hacks work, so that you can see just how critical a good security plugin is.

We’ve broken this section up into 2 parts:

• Hack mechanisms: How malware is inserted into the websites by either exploiting vulnerabilities or attacking the website.
• Types of malware: How the malware manifests itself on your website. There are a few ways that malware shows up on your website, but ultimately the hacker’s goal is to get unauthorised access to perform otherwise prohibited activities. We’ve expanded on why WordPress sites get hacked in a later section.

Hack mechanisms

Previously in the article, we have talked about how websites get hacked. Either through vulnerabilities or backdoors, or sometimes poor passwords. These are flaws within the security of the website and are akin to weak points of a structure.

Hack mechanisms are the weapons used to attack those weak points. Their goal is to insert malware into the website. They are bots or programs that target weak points in specific ways to achieve their goal. There are several hack mechanisms, especially since hackers are getting smarter every day about circumventing the security systems of websites.

• SQL injection: SQL is a programming language used to interact with database systems, in order to write, read or manipulate data. Websites interact with the database all the time, to save form data for instance, or to authenticate users. An SQL injection attack uses SQL to insert php scripts into the database.
  
  The injection is only possible if the form is not adequately protected from incorrect inputs. The hacker can use operators and programming logic to circumvent the functionality of a form, unless checks are put in place.
  
• Cross-site scripting (XSS): Cross-site scripting(XSS) is also the injection of code, like with SQL injection, but into the browser. The next user to access the website or otherwise interact with the page in question becomes the target of this attack.
  
  Again, form fields are duped by hackers into accepting code like JavaScript and executing those scripts without validation.

• Distributed denial of service (DDoS): In a DDoS attack, hackers flood a website or system with so much malicious traffic that legitimate users cannot access it. The attack works because resources are limited or metered.
  
  For instance, a website using server resources will be on a plan for processing power and request handling. If the website is bombarded with 100x or even 1000x requests compared to what it normally receives, the server will not be unable to handle those requests and visitors will see an error.
  
• Brute force attacks: This type of attack usually targets login pages, trying out combinations of usernames and passwords in order to gain access to the website. The hack mechanism is a bot, and will try out passwords, using words from a dictionary. A brute force attack also consumes server resources, and so will often end up keeping out genuine users and visitors.
  
  On many WordPress support threads, you will see advice to hide the login page to protect from this attack. This is an unwise thing to do, because the URL can be forgotten, it is tricky to distribute this URL to multiple users for login, and many more problems. It is best to have bot protection in place that keeps out this bad bot traffic.

Types of malware

The malware types we have listed appear to mirror symptoms closely. That’s because most malware has been named for the symptoms that each display. If you were to drill down into the malware, they aren’t all that different in construction or purpose.

All malware is out to use your website in some way or the other:use up its resources, steal data, piggyback on your SEO rankings, etc. The most commonly seen malware are:

• Pharma hack: Your website will have new pages or posts filled with keywords or links to sell pharmaceutical products, often grey market or illegal. These products are difficult to rank for on Google because of legality issues, and hence to get more traffic and sales, hackers insert these pages into unsuspecting websites.
  
  To detect a pharma hack on your website, you can try Googling pharma keywords like ‘viagra’ or ‘CBD’ with the search operator site:. It will list out all the pages on your website with that keyword.
  
• Japanese keyword hack: The Japanese keyword hack is a variation of the pharma hack, and indeed of the next malware on this list, the SEO Spam hack. The only difference is that instead of pharmaceutical products, the malware will display Japanese content; often, unsavoury adult content.
  
  It is a little harder to check for this hack, unless you are familiar with Japanese and can look for keywords. <강한>
  
• SEO spam hack: The SEO spam hack, as said before, is a variation on the first two. The content differs. Here, the spam content can include online gambling and casinos, or shady products. This is effectively a catchall term for all hacks that insert extra pages into your website, but don’t fall into one of the special categories.
  

• Redirects: Malicious redirects take place when a visitor to your website is taken to an entirely different website, usually a spammy one. There are a few variations of the redirect hack, depending on where it appears.
  
  The most egregious aspect of the redirect hack is that website admin cannot log into their websites. Therefore, they cannot control the damage or even fix their website without expert help.

Examples of hack scripts, we’ve found in websites:

It is difficult to protect against all the hack mechanisms, which is why installing a security plugin is very critical. MalCare’s sophisticated algorithm combats malware effectively, in addition to protecting websites against hack mechanisms.

What are the consequences of a hacked WordPress site?

The impact of a hacked WordPress website can be wide-ranging in bad consequences. The importance of web security cannot be sufficiently overestimated because of this reason. Website admins without exposure to cybersecurity may read about the occasional hack, but the full potential impact is not always evident.

Therefore, it is critical to understand the impact in its entirety. The poor consequences are not confined to individual websites or their owners and administrators but have far-reaching implications.

Immediate impact on your website

If your WordPress website is hacked, there are chances you won’t even realise it for a while. Rest assured, whether or not you can see a hack, the damage is unfolding and getting worse as time wears on.

Let’s say one of the ways the hack manifests is through malvertising; a very common sign with spammy ads or pages that redirect your website visitors to another website (usually a pharma site or one peddling illegal stuff). This has several implications:

• Google blacklist: Google is hyper-vigilant about hacked websites, because they do not want to send their users (search engine users) to dangerous websites. With malware, your website is now dangerous. So they will put up a massive, scary red notice advising visitors to stay far away from your website.
  
  Additionally, other search engines and browsers use this same blacklist to protect their own users. So even if your site doesn’t get flagged with the red screen, most browsers will warn your visitors away with messages.
  
• SEO rankings will tank: As a result of fewer visitors and Google’s policy of protecting people, your website will stop showing up in results. Google calls this “hiding sites silently”. Not only are you going to lose ground you may have gained with an SEO strategy, but you will also lose visitors and discoverability.
  
• Loss of trust and visitors: Most people will see spam content as a sign of a hack and know that your website is unsafe. If you are fortunate, someone will point it out. If not, your traffic numbers will decline.
  
• Web host issues :Web hosts will quickly suspend websites that are hacked. If your website is hacked, your web host will face a lot of the heat, and will take hacked websites offline as soon as they are discovered to be hacked.
  
  A web host risks their IPs getting blacklisted with a hacked site. If your website is used for phishing attacks, and firewalls identify your website as the source, that means your IP address can be blacklisted, which will cause the host several issues.
  
  Also, a hacked website will often consume lots of server resources, and if your website is on shared hosting, that will adversely affect the performance of other websites, which are other customers of the web host. The problem becomes worse if there are bots attacking your website. Bots pummel your website with thousands and thousands of requests that consume tons of resources.
  
• Unwitting pawn: Your website becomes a host for malware; part of a botnet that goes on to attack more websites.

Business impact

The impact of the previous section applies to all websites, large and small. The consequences are worse if your website is central to your business. Because then we are talking straight up the monetary loss.

• Loss of revenue: Downtime, poor SEO rankings, visitor numbers reducing are all contributing factors to loss in revenue. If people can’t or won’t visit your website, you aren’t going to get business that way.
  
• Degraded branding: Trust is a huge commodity in online marketing, and hacks erode that trust. You may have had a competitive advantage in some cases. That too will be affected. Also, data breaches leave a stain on reputation. Some businesses handle the aftermath well, but the seed of doubt may be planted forever. Since things last forever on the Internet, a quick, intentional Google search will bring up hacks. It will become a point of consideration for any potential customer.
  
• Server resources: We mentioned this in the previous section, but it bears mention from a monetary angle as well. Web hosts charge for excessive resource consumption. If your hacked website goes undetected for a while, you could also be paying for this fraudulent usage. Plus, if you are subject to bot attacks, the rapid depletion of (finite and allocated) server resources means that legitimate users will not be able to access your website.
  
• Investment: You’ve spent time, money, and manpower to build this website. If you lose the website, you’ve lost that investment.
  
• Legal issues: Data breaches of private information can cause you legal issues because of stringent data protection regulations. It is very important that websites that collect personal data from visitors treat that data with the utmost care. If it is compromised in any way, those people have grounds for legal action.
  
• Cleaning cost: Hack removal is an expensive proposition, especially if you hire experts who actually know what they are doing.
  
  Apart from that, we often encounter website admin who try cleaning malware out by themselves, and cause their website to break. Then, in panic, they seek out expert help. Again, data retrieval is an expensive undertaking.

Dangerous for people

Social engineering attacks, like phishing, have compounded impact. They are bad for the website and website admin being attacked, but also have terrible consequences for their users and visitors.

Credentials can be used to hack into other websites. Hackers can use aggregated information from websites to create personal profiles that can be used to hack into bank accounts and other restricted areas. People also tend to use the same passwords in multiple places, making them especially vulnerable in these situations.

While all data theft is bad, it takes a tragic turn with the theft and release of information of vulnerable people, like those in witness protection programs or on the run from abusers. This information sells on the dark web, a particularly ugly place.

Why do WordPress websites get hacked?

All websites have value, whether large or small, business or personal. Many website owners of small blogs often have a false sense of security because they feel their website is “too small” to be hacked.

This is not true at all. While bigger websites will have a bigger payoff for hackers in terms of data theft for instance, smaller sites have value of their own. They can be used as a part of a botnet, for example. Or a site may have a small, dedicated following, which can be tapped for phishing scams via their email addresses.

Because people tend to use the same passwords for different accounts, it is theoretically possible to now hack into another site or system using this information. The small website played a small but crucial role in this chain of events.

Finally, hacking is always worth the effort. Hacks are rarely carried out manually. Malware, bots specifically, are designed to automate the hacking process. So there is minimal “effort” on the hacker’s front. Thus the gains of hacking your site are disproportionately stacked on the side of hackers.

Conclusion

In order to protect your website, it is important to be well-informed about WordPress security and hacks. In this article, we have attempted to explain WordPress hacks, motivations, impact, and much more, so you can make an informed decision about your website’s security.

We recommend MalCare to fix hacked WordPress website because it is a complete security solution, and is only getting better with time. We protect 1000s of websites daily, with our advanced firewall, scanning and cleaning algorithm, and much more. MalCare has found malware that most other scanners miss, and has saved our customers untold amounts in revenue.

We would love to hear from you. Reach out to us via email for any questions, and we’re happy to help.

FAQs

How do WordPress sites get hacked?

Primarily, WordPress websites get hacked or keep getting hacked because of vulnerabilities in the core WordPress files, plugins, or themes. Hackers exploit these vulnerabilities to insert malware into the website. The second biggest reason that websites get hacked is because of poor or insecure passwords.

My WordPress site has been hacked, what to do?

If your WordPress site is seriously compromised, there are steps you can take to fix the hack:

1. Scan your website for malware using MalCare
2. Take a backup of your hacked WordPress site before cleanup
3. Use a security plugin to clean up hacked WordPress site
4. Install a web application firewall
5. Change all user passwords