If you have a website, you are always at risk of being attacked. Malware is always changing and reducing the risk to zero. However, you can take steps to keep it to a minimum and feel confident that your data is protected.

This article explains how you can clean and remove a virus or malware from your website and what applications you can use to do so.

What is a web virus or malware?

 

It is software designed to harm a computer, server, or network. Its name is a combination of “software” and “malicious”. This is what we call a “virus”.

The effects of a web virus or malware can range from minor manipulation of the computer or website to the risk of losing all your investment and your website.

Therefore, cleaning and removing a virus from your website is an urgent matter, even if it is a minor and inconspicuous malware. Such an attack can ruin your website’s reputation and cause your SEO to plummet.

Malware, a combination of “malicious” and “software,” is designed to harm a computer, web server, or web page.

Inserting a virus in a web page is usually done with the following objectives:

• Redirect your traffic to another web page
• Steal money in your transactions
• Create advertising and spam pages
• Make fraudulent purchases on your website
• Obtain confidential information from your website or your users
• Change or replace web data

Which often comes in executables and scripts, is usually introduced after a brute force attack (for example, overloading your web server) or through a vulnerability in your theme, CMS or one of your plugins.

Some of the most well-known types of malware are:

• spyware
• Virus
• trojans
• worms
• Ransomware
• Keyloggers

Signs that your website is infected by a virus or malware

Cleaning and removing a virus or malware from your website starts with alerting any suspicious changes.

There are many types of it, and their effects are varied. However, some common signs are usually a good indication that your website has been attacked with malware or viruses. Some are more obvious than others, but you have to keep your eyes open for all of them. These are the most relevant:

• Change of appearance of your website (Defacements). This can be understood as electronic graffiti. They are changes in the appearance of your web page made by hackers. Defacement is perhaps the most obvious sign: if suddenly images and text appear on your website that wasn’t there, it has probably been infiltrated by hackers.
• Changes to your account access. If you notice an unauthorized change to your login or account information, it could be the start of a malware or virus attack. Contact your hosting provider immediately to protect your account.
• Your website is slower than normal. If you notice that your page frequently freezes or crashes without warning, it may be infected by a virus. Many types of malware affect a page’s loading speed and performance, either as their goal or as a side effect.
• Files disappear from your website. A hacker who manages to infiltrate your website can delete or change files on your backend. If you notice files missing without explanation, a virus or malware attack may be blamed.
• Your traffic suddenly drops. Malware that affects the functionality and speed of your website can make your visitors frustrated and leave the page. If you notice that your traffic drops drastically and you can’t find another explanation, it may be malware.
• You receive a notification from your hosting company. Sometimes your hosting provider will notice the virus or malware before you and announce it to you with some message. It is crucial to clean malware from your website to avoid penalties such as account suspension.

How to clean and remove a virus or malware from my website?

Scan web files

 

If you know or suspect it on your website, the first step is to look for suspicious file modifications on the webserver.

It begins by searching the system for all files that have been recently modified, for example, in the last week. Perhaps you will find an unauthorized modification.

However, the hacker could take this into account and reset the modification date of the files he tampered with. To counter this, do a file attribute modification search.

You can carry out other procedures, such as commands to search for patterns in your files and URLs, which can sometimes help, but it already requires much more advanced technical knowledge.

Check web server permissions.

Another of the first measures that you should take if you suspect a malware attack is to check the permissions of your web server.

To do this, use a command to check the permissions of the files, and those permissions that have been modified or configured suspiciously can already give you a clue that the virus or malware may have modified them.

Detect active processes

If a security scan shows suspicious activity, check which processes run on your system and web server.

An unknown script running continuously can indicate that it is part of the virus or malware.

Consult the logs (Log) of the webserver

The access_log and error_log files are excellent sources of information when determining where the attack is coming from and what elements of your web page are being affected.

If malware or viruses sent spam from your address, you could review logs to determine where exactly it was sent from, when it was sent, and what script executed the command. Finding the script that is sending the emails can help you easily locate the source of the malware or virus.

If your content manager (CMS) has records (Logs), these can help you trace the attack’s origin. You can review them to determine if the attack is external or entered through the CMS.

You can also review the FTP Action Logs to determine what files have been uploaded or modified on the server and who did it, and with what permissions.

If you analyze the Logs well, you can find the IP address and the HTTP user agent of the origin of the attack, with which you will have a lot of useful information about the attacker.

Audit web code

To discover the source of the attack, you will have to audit the files and code of your website.

Most hosting services have a file manager, and this tool may be enough. However, it is not the deepest or most efficient way to do it.

It is preferable to download a copy of your website and do local searches. This will simplify the process and give you access to more tools, such as command lines and change detection against the original web files.

Reveal malicious codes

After locating the files suspected of containing malware, you will have to review them carefully to find the malicious code. There are many codes to be aware of, but here are some of the most common:

• evaluate
• base64_decode
• fromCharCode
• gzinflate
• shell_exec
• globals
• error_reporting()

Clean infected files

Once you know which files are infected, you have to clean them one by one; it is the only way to remove and clean all malware and viruses from a web page.

It is advisable to have a recent backup of your website in these situations.

If you only do this manually, you will likely miss some files. At that time, it is a good idea to rely on software such as plugins that detect and remove malware from your website.

Update your software

Once you have managed to remove and clean all the malware and viruses from a web page, to prevent another attack, you must keep the software on which your web page rests up to date, from your theme and plugins to your servers and versions of your web pages. Modules.

As soon as new vulnerabilities are discovered, software developers get to work updating their products to fix those security holes. Try to only download updates from official websites.

Change your passwords

 

Malware attacks often begin with the theft of an administrator password and logins.

As soon as you become aware of the attack, update the access passwords to things like the server’s control panel, your CMS, FTP accounts, etc.

Make sure you only use strong passwords.

Services and tools to remove viruses and malware from your website

Sucuri

Sucuri is one of the most popular options for removing malware from a web page.

This system can clean your website of malware and prevent future attacks, and offers defence against a variety of malware attacks and consequences:

• SEO spam
• malware injections
• Google Blacklist
• Phishing
• redirects
• Backdoors
• Google Warnings

Sucuri starts at $199.99 per year for web cleaning and protection.

Aster

Astra is a website malware cleaning service offered by real people. Instead of relying on an app to process, Astra offers personalized service carried out by professionals.

It also gives you the option to purchase the Astra Firewall to prevent future attacks.

Astra’s plan to clean and remove website viruses or malware costs $228 per year, and website security audits start at $349.

On the other hand, Astra Firewall starts at $19 per month.

Web Malware Removal

 

Website Malware Removal is a personalized malware, backdoor and blacklist removal service if your website is attacked. It also includes one year of free protection against brute force attacks.

The tool’s price for cleaning and removing the virus or malware from the website is $149. If your website is hacked again in the next four weeks, they will clean it again for free.

Quttera ThreatSign!

Quttera offers detailed reporting, external link detection, PHP threat detection, unknown malware detection, continuous monitoring, and many other features.

Their basic plan is priced at $10 per month.

Comfortable cWatch

Comodo cWatch is one of the cheapest options on the market.

If you need to remove malware from your website and don’t have the budget to buy another of the more robust apps, this service offers all the essential features starting at $7.92 per month.

One Hour Site Fix

One Hour Site Fix is a service that offers to scan your website immediately and clean it of malware in less than an hour with its Chatbot open at all times.

Hour Site Fix plan to clean and remove website virus or malware is $14.95 per month.

Wordfence (WordPress)

 

Wordfence is software that can clean or restore WordPress and Joomla pages. Its plugin to improve the security of WordPress pages has more than 4 million users.

The malware cleanup service includes a detailed report, a list of actions to take, full website restoration, and an investigation of how the attack infiltrated your website.

The Wordfence service to clean and remove the virus or malware from the website is priced at $490.

And the WordPress security plugin, Wordfence Premium, to prevent future attacks costs $99 per year.

Fix My Site (WordPress)

Fix My Site is a service to clean and remove WordPress viruses and malware that offers a scan of your WordPress website, malware removal and optimization of your defences. A detailed report with recommendations accompanies this.

The price for cleaning and removing viruses and malware from a web page is $119 and includes a full refund if there are no results.

Malware (WordPress)

Malware is one of the complete options to protect and remove malware from WordPress websites.

It can perform deep scans and remove and clean even the most sophisticated malware and viruses, all without affecting the speed of your website.

Malware’s software, which includes Firewall and automatic virus/malware cleaning service, among other features, costs $99 per year.

Site Guarding (WordPress and Joomla)

SiteGuarding is a service for WordPress or Joomla that can clean your website from malware in 24 hours or even in just 1-3 hours, in its urgent mode.

It has essential features like file scanning, blacklist removal, log analysis and attack prevention.

Site Guarding services to clean and remove viruses or malware from the website start at $49.95 or $109.95 (urgent service).

Fixed (WordPress)

Fixed offers a complete malware cleanup of your WordPress website done by experts. Their service is immediate and will repair your page in two hours or less.

Fixed’s service to clean and remove virus or malware from the website costs $65, but you can pay $45 per month for continuous monitoring and protection.

Site24x7

Site24x7 is a service that monitors visits to your website for suspicious activity. Its cloud platform model offers several advantages over traditional antiviruses, such as being ahead of the game when finding vulnerabilities.

Site24x7 has a free version with few features, and the full version starts from €108 per year.

Hack Repair

 

Jim Walker, the person behind HackRepair, claims to remove and clean your website from all viruses and malware in a matter of hours.

You can speak with him directly to determine the service price, which he indicates to be between $30 and $279.

SiteLock

 

SiteLock offers detection and cleaning of your website and automatic malware software for your website in different CMS, a monthly network scan, monthly security reports and daily risk assessment.

The price for cleaning and removing the virus or malware from the website is $199.

And the cheapest plan for their security maintenance service is $14.99 per month.

The war against web viruses and malware never ends. Can we help you?

 

In the war against viruses and malware, the best thing you can do to win is preparing. A cleanup can remove viruses from your website, but you’ll only have peace of mind if you’re constantly protected and know where to turn if something goes wrong.

The importance of protecting your website from malware on the web goes beyond the risk of your information being stolen. The effects of malware can cause Google to block you and display security alerts to your web users, a disaster for any Internet business.