Websites are complicated enough that they don’t always do precisely what we expect. Sometimes an unexpected behavior can be just a glitch; other times, it’s an outward and visible sign of an inward and terrible malware infestation. Malware, or malicious (or malevolent) software has been designed by attackers to gain sensitive information and to damage or gain access to a website for theft of information or money. Nearly one million new malware threats are released every day. And did you know that today, 75 percent of legitimate websites are at risk of malware. There are a variety of ways a cybercriminal can use malware to infect your website. Not to mention all of the different malware types and purposes.
Malware is a blanket term used to describe many different types of harmful software. A few different types of Malware are Viruses, a Trojan Horse and Adware.
Malware is used for many different purposes, which is one of the reasons why it’s so popular among cybercriminals. LOJO has an excellent article if you would like to learn more about what Malware is.
When a cybercriminal finds vulnerabilities in your website, they are quick to attack. First, they’ll decide why they want to access your site. Then based on their intent, they’ll determine the type of malware to use. If your website is infected with malware, it could potentially harm the visitors on your site. Malware infected websites have the ability to install malicious software on a user’s computer to steal private information, delete data, attack other computers and completely shut down an entire site! So how do you know if your website is infected with Malware?
- A website scanner is one of the easiest ways to spot malware on your website. Scanners are typically designed to automatically check a website’s files for known malware scripts, algorithms, backdoor files, and malicious code. If malware is found, the scanner will notify you that something has been found.
- You can also identify malware by manually reviewing your website’s source code for any questionable scripts. If you notice an unrecognizable site or file after “<script src=>” in your code, you could have malware.
If you have detected Malware on your website you have a few options to remove it.
Sometimes the website scanner that you used will also eliminate the Malware from your website once it has found it. However, there are times when a website scanner finds malware on a website but can’t remove it without affecting the site. At that point, you or a professional would need to take matters into your own hands by manually removing the malware. This can be done by manually downloading the website and searching each file, line by line, for malicious code. Once the malware is found, it needs to be manually removed. From there, you can place the clean version back on the server.
Once you have successfully removed all the Malware from your device, there are some precautions to take to help prevent it from happening to you again, learn about how to prevent malware.
In the event you need further assistance with malware removal, LOJO Marketing is always available to help you solve any issues you might have. We offer different malware clean up plans for your website!
Written by Kim Ganir
