Has all my talk about the dark web and malware come back to bite me in the ass? Maybe…
One of my readers sent me a message and informed me that according to the site Quttera, I had malware on this very blog. For all my talk about being safe and blah blah blah, it is a little ironic that I could have malware on my own site, isn’t it? Here were the scan results, according to them:
So, I have one malicious file and one “potentially suspicious” file? Well, that’s cause for concern, but it could have been worse. Of course, according to them, if I want to remove said malware, I have to sign up for the paid version (isn’t that always the case?).
Oddly enough, I tried a few other scans, such as Blacklist Website Checker and Is It Hacked?, and according to those, I was clean! So which one is it, then?
I suppose it’s not unlike scanning your computer or device with different antivirus programs: they won’t pick up everything. And look: as I’ve said before, I’m not a full-fledged “hacker” (at least not yet), although I’m in the process of learning. You have to make a few mistakes before you get there. (To tell the truth, I’m shying away from the term “hacking,” since it has so many connotations. How about “coder”?)
Given that my site is still functioning, for the most part, that’s good news! I did some searching, and found a few tools that are designed to remove such malware:
Wordfence is a site cleaning service specifically geared toward WordPress and Joomla sites. Their services include:
- Cleaning Infections
- Analyzing how an attacker gained entry
- Removing malicious code and malware
- Showing you a detailed report of the removal and investigation
- Using 20+ site blacklists to help keep your site clean
- Offering a detailed checklist to help prevent future attacks
Price: $179
Unfortunately, all of these, while they may scan you for free, charge money to remove any malware you come across. (Gotta make a living, right?)
If you don’t want to use the paid software, there’s always the manual option – but then, of course, you have to know what you’re doing, and it can take longer as well.
Anyhow, my site seems to be working fine at the moment, but if anything else suspicious happens…maybe I’ll take one of these scanners up on their offer.
