Discovering harmful malware on your system can be one of the most stressful experiences for a website owner. Once cyber attackers have breached your system, they can use malware to assume control of your account to extract personal information.

Naturally, this leaves your website exposed and vulnerable to further attacks that can seriously compromise your system. As a website owner, it’s useful to understand the different types of malware that can affect your site as well as knowing what to do in the instance of an attack.

Variations of malware in a WordPress website

Malware is software that is specifically designed to damage or disrupt a computer system. From Trojan horses, worms, spyware and adware to scareware and other malicious software, there are many variations of malware.

Cyber attackers are increasingly smart when it comes to hacking and have an endless number of ways in which to infiltrate a WordPress website. At the same time, this malware can penetrate the computer itself by infecting files and existing software.

Steps to remove malware from WordPress

+ Using the WPSecurityLock, you should secure the system and ensure nobody can enter while you rectify the matter.
+ Reset the login feature and create a strong password.
+ Perform a scan of the WordPress website for malware.
+ Remove any malicious code or files.
+ Restore the old website using the backup.
+ Continue to scan the WordPress website daily for one month after the infection.

Things to remember while removing malware

+ Cleaning the system: Naturally, the system must be cleared of all malware before anything can be done to restore the website.
+ Live scanning: It can be challenging on webmasters to detect the specific issues affecting a WordPress website, so live scanners are great for checking the source of the damage. If you would like more information on this, check out our article on WordPress security auditing.
+ Using monitoring tools: Wordpress is a default system which means the file structure should always be the same. Monitoring tools can help to check this structure and hence, identify malware.
+ Disable all plugins: Malware is most often found in the plugin directory, so the task of disabling plugins is key to establishing a root cause.

The importance of malware removal from WordPress websites

If you discover that your website is infected with malware, it should be dealt with promptly. Cyber attackers can use the time your system is compromised to extract more private information from your site and spread the malware further.

If you are unable to remove the malware yourself, you can hire a professional service to do it for you. SiteGuard offers a fast and reliable emergency repair option with a one-off fee – find out more about it here.