Security Hardening Case Study
Recovered compromised WordPress installs end to end: found the intrusion, removed the malware and backdoors, restored known-good files, and left each owner with a hardened site and a clear recovery path.
What the work covered
- Manual malware identification and fake-plugin detection
- Review and removal of suspicious MU-plugin, theme, and plugin files
- Clean WordPress core and plugin reinstall workflows
- Salt-key rotation, cron reset, XML-RPC disablement, and .htaccess cleanup
- Database cleanup for infected revisions and stored malicious scripts
- Security-provider checks, API-call inspection, and reputation review after cleanup
- Defender hardening, audit review, and post-cleanup recommendations
Outcome
- Removed fake plugins, malicious files, injected code, and backdoor admin behavior
- Reinstalled WordPress core and plugins from clean sources
- Reset cron, rotated salts, and reduced attack surface through hardening
- Delivered owner-facing next steps: passwords, 2FA, admin review, backups, and SEO-spam recovery
Client names and report links are withheld; the work is based on documented cleanup engagements.