Scan My WordPress Website for Malware – How to Check for Malware on Your WordPress Blog
WordPress is a fantastic blogging platform, and with a community of millions of users it’s clear why. The number of installations is increasing year after year, and the functionality and features are expanding to cater to all users’ needs. It’s an excellent choice for bloggers who are looking to monetise their content, and with affiliate marketing being so popular it’s clear why – there’s a whole ecosystem of products and services that can be integrated into your content to help monetise and optimise your blog.
Unfortunately, this is also one of the most common ways that hackers and scammers try to make money off of unsuspecting bloggers. By hacking into their accounts and injecting malware into their websites they can try to trick you into downloading and executing malicious programs on your computer.
Sometimes this isn’t even needed – if someone wants to deface your blog or steal your content they’ll often just put something on there that makes money for them instead of you. For this reason, it’s important to check for malware and other attackers on your WordPress site.
How to Check for Malware on Your WordPress Blog
There are lots of different ways that hackers and scammers can try to trick you into downloading malware. Sometimes it’ll be in the form of a rigged image or a link to a dodgy website. Sometimes it’ll be a seemingly helpful tool that secretly adds advertising or monetises your site without your knowledge.
No matter how they try to trick you, the end goal is the same: get you to download and execute malware on your computer. Luckily for you, we’re not going to let this happen. We’ll teach you three easy ways to check for malware and other attackers on your WordPress blog. By taking the time to learn how to check for malware you’ll be able to protect your site and keep your visitors safe.
Look For Signs of Hacking
One of the best ways to check for malware is to look for signs of hacking. Just like a good carpenter can tell if a door or a table is properly made by paying attention to the little details, a good security pro can look for telltale signs of hacking on your site. The best way to do this is to look for unexpected behaviour in the server logs. This is where most large websites store all of their technical details about the site, including the operating system, the web server, and the software stack (e.g. WordPress, MySQL, PHP).
If you notice anything out of the ordinary in the server logs, especially when compared to similar websites you’ve worked on, you can rest assured that there’s most likely some sort of malicious activity going on. The best thing you can do is try to pinpoint where the intrusion came from and, once you’ve done that, take action to remove it. Don’t worry too much about it if you don’t have the technological know-how – you can contact a professional tech support team to get things looked at.
Monitor For Improving Security
A hacker or scammer who’s successfully penetrated your website will have all of the same end-goals in mind: get you to download and execute malware on your computer. This is why it’s important to keep your eye on the ball and be on the lookout for any improvements that can make your blog more secure. The best thing you can do for your security is install a premium WordPress package that’s protected by an excellent multi-layered security system.
The more you put in it, the more you get out of it. When you sign up for a premium account with a reputable company like WP Engine or Bluehost, you’ll be able to take advantage of features like free backups, free domain privacy, and free malware scans. You don’t need to spend a penny to get started, and with over 20 million websites using WordPress, it’s clear that this is the most popular blogging platform out there. With so many users and so much traffic it’s important to keep your eye on the ball and make sure that your site is as safe as possible.
Use A Dedicated IP For Website Security
There’s one more thing you can do to ensure the safety of your website and that’s to use a dedicated IP. A dedicated IP is a unique address that you’re given when you purchase a static IP from your internet service provider. A dedicated IP is great for blocking out all of the external traffic so that all of your visitors can only connect to your site and not someone else’s. This will make a huge difference in terms of your security. If you don’t have the budget for a dedicated IP, you can also use an application-level firewall with basic WebRTC protection to get the same result.
Keeping your website safe is a lot of work, but with a little dedication and proper planning you’ll be able to keep your visitors secure and your business growing. Make sure to learn how to check for malware and other attackers on your WordPress blog so that you can keep your site free from trouble. If you keep up with the tips and tricks below, you’ll be able to keep your site safe and protect your visitors from harm: