Repairing and securing hacked WordPress websites

My name is Robin Labadie. I am a sole trader and my company details are available at the bottom of my website. Systems administrator since 2013, I've worked for web hosting companies and web agencies on hosting and maintenance of WordPress websites (CV available here). This led me to take charge of many WordPress sites that were not properly maintained and had been hacked. As a result, I've developed a unique set of skills and reliable, effective methods for cleaning up and securing WordPress sites over the long term. No site has ever been hacked again under my supervision.

The reasons behind the hacking of your site are generally linked to security vulnerabilities. The security vulnerabilities that may have enabled your site to be hacked will be indicated in my intervention report.

WordPress, as an interactive system, includes thousands of lines of code and numerous plugins, creating opportunities for security vulnerabilities. Every day, such vulnerabilities are discovered and corrected by developers.

Since WordPress is widely used, it is often the target of attacks. Hackers test different vulnerabilities on various WordPress sites until they find one.

Reasons for intrusion may include:

• Missing updates or obsolete scripts.
• Weak passwords for administrator, FTP and database accounts.
• Insufficiently secure hosting without adequate protection against attacks.

It's crucial to reinforce all aspects of security, including using secure hosting specially configured for WordPress, as well as regular maintenance, to prevent future intrusions. My offer Webmastering Critical is designed with this in mind.

Online attackers don't usually make distinctions: they attack all sites, including those of the self-employed, small businesses, small associations or local authorities. Truly targeted attacks are rare. That's why, if your site has security flaws, it's not a question of "if", but "when" your site will be hacked.

Whether your site is specifically targeted or not, it's essential to take all necessary measures to ensure complete security and prevent any recurrence.

No, that's not enough, nor is it recommended. It's necessary to carry out a complete audit of the site's files and database, and to identify other potential vulnerabilities and unauthorized users.

This is because most hackers often leave backdoors in their code to maintain access, and these are not erased by an update.

Also, to perform the update, if you've gone through the hacked site's back-office, this may give the hacker access to your password, which you'll have to change wherever you use it.

If you've already performed updates after an intrusion, it's important to let me know, as file modifications are an important diagnostic indicator. Also, the update may have corrected the original vulnerability, making it impossible to retroactively detect the original flaw that enabled the hack.

Safety is our specialty. In the event of a hold, call on your safety expert LRob.

WordPress is an attractive target for hackers due to its great popularity (43% of websites) and the mass availability of information on its security vulnerabilities.

Hackers' motivations are generally linked to illegal financial gain. They use various methods, such as data theft and resale, as well as phishing, to achieve this goal.

Your site can be repaired within 24 hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays. Such a turnaround also requires your responsiveness.

Piracy is an emergency and your request is treated as a priority.

For best results, we recommend that you fill in the form and then call us.

For rapid intervention, you need to provide access to the site files and database, and then, as soon as you have confirmation that your site is repairable, place the order.

After a preliminary diagnosis by telephone or via the contact form and payment on your part, the repair begins.

Full host access provides all the necessary access. For the repair, I only need access to your site's files and database. You can provide me with an archive of the files and database if you're comfortable with this option. Otherwise, FTP and phpMyAdmin access is sufficient. On a dedicated server, SSH access with sufficient permissions is recommended.

I'd like to make sure that you won't be charged if your site unfortunately can't be repaired.

The diagnosis prior to the order is designed to check the feasibility of the intervention.

However, should I notice during the repair process that your site has been too severely altered and that your content is no longer available, I undertake to reimburse you by credit card or bank transfer within 7 working days. You can also opt for a credit note deducted from the amount already paid for hosting, site creation or redesign, if you prefer.

A maintenance-free site starts to run a significant risk after 3 months without updates. In other words, after 3 months, what happens to your site is no longer related to the initial security.

If you opt for LRob hosting, you'll benefit from automatic updates and security alerts.
If you opt for a Webmastering package, then security is closely monitored by me, and you benefit from the "0 hack" guarantee: any hacking is taken care of free of charge on your hosted site.

Usually just a few seconds.

My intervention is designed not to cause any noticeable interruption.

First, the duplication of your site to my environment has no effect on it. Secondly, the return to production is done in such a way as to minimize delays. The first few seconds of interruption are due to the renaming of the hacked site folder to a new folder with the repaired site pre-sent. Finally, importing the repaired database usually takes a few seconds, during which the site may not respond. The duration of this stage depends on the size of your site's database and the performance of your hosting provider, if you haven't chosen LRob.

If you've chosen LRob hosting, then migration to the new server won't cause any downtime thanks to perfect DNS control!