Whew last week, was one for the books over here. After over a decade of being in business and a WordPress user, I had my first experience with malware, and my site was down for 72 hours. Mind you; I had just sent my monthly newsletter detailing blow post and several other rollouts that I was incredibly proud of. Out of nowhere, I received an email from my hosting company that WordPress was hacked by malware and taken down for security reasons. Truthfully, this is the side of business people don’t talk about, and I want to deep dive this week into what happens when your WordPress is hacked and how I handle with by utilizing Sucurni.
Sourcing Malware Protection Company
First and foremost, there are several options for malware protection companies if you Google that your WordPress website has been hacked. Truthfully, I am lucky that my hosting company provided information about a company that they trusted to do the work. I didn’t have to read through other companies and worried about being scammed. Regardless, I have a habit of going on Google and putting in terms such as; “malware protection Sucuri Reddit.” When I do this, I can get unbias reviews of things I needed to be solved. Even though Sucuri was trusted, I wanted to read reviews not tied to affiliate links.
Using Sucuri To Remove Malware
On the Sucuri website, they provide you with the different services and packages they offer, and I read through each of them and then chatted with support to make sure I was selecting the right one. Noting that if you want to use them, coupons do not work on the basic package. Every step of the way, they communicated what they were doing and the process, which helped me understand why I was having these issues. Lamen’s terms were the best thing that they did for me, and I knew what I needed to do on my end.
You will communicate the whole time through your support ticket, and you can provide them extra information via that same portal.
Yes, I recommend hiring them before your WordPress is hacked by malware to indeed prevent this from happening. The packages include a year’s worth of support, and even if it was a one-time fee, it was well worth it, in my opinion.
Fixing Malware Yourself
I am a DIY girl, but it was beyond overwhelming when I logged into my hosting and got into the backend. There are a plethora of Youtube and blog posts that guide you on to do it, but it was not for me, and I believe you need to be technically savvy because you remove one line of code, and it’s all changed forever. However, if you feel it’s something you can do, go for it.
Have All Your Ducks In Order
Finally, one of the most stressful aspects was communicating between my hosting company and Sucuri. All three of us were in different time zones, making it even harder, and I felt like I always waited on someone else. One of the best things you can do takes all the information you get from your hosting provider and share it with the malware protection company. This way, they know all the files and information they need to remove. Get a list of all the infected files, plugins, and more. Provide this to the service company. I had to go back and forth for three days because my hosting company gave me information in sections.
Having my WordPress hacked and how I handle with by utilizing Sucurni’s pushed out my comfort zone for 72 hours. It also showed me areas I was weak in and needed more protection. Later this week, I will be discussing how to protect your WordPress website from being hacked by malware.
Photo by Hillary Black on Unsplash
