There are millions of websites that get infected with malware each day. Malware attacks are so common that it is highly likely that your website can be attacked numerous times in a very short period of time.
This makes malware protection paramount for your website. Something more, it is highly advisable that you use all means of security measures for your web pages, to deflect any negative impact on your visitors’ data, personal information, funds, and everything else that is worth protecting on your web pages.
In the following paragraphs, you will read about:
- What is Website Malware
- How Website Malware Can Access Your Pages
- Types of Website Malware
- Common Signs of Website Malware Infection
- How to Protect From Website Malware
Read also:
- What is Content Delivery Network
- How to Optimize Images for Web (7 Key Tips)
- Why Your Site Speed Matters and How to Measure It
- How to Optimize Website Speed
What is Website Malware
Malware is short for malicious software.
Malware refers to a type of software that exists only to affect negatively other software. Malware is used to extort online funds, steal identities, hijack websites, and other similar malicious intent.
Malware can infect your website by accessing it via the Internet, and various computer devices, including laptops, smartphones, and web servers. Once it does, all your website data is endangered of being stolen, damaged, destroyed or simply being hijacked until you pay a hefty ransom.
How Website Malware Can Infect Your Pages
There are many ways through which malware can access your website.
By far, the most common ways of malware distribution are:
Using Infected CMS Plugins
A devious way of distributing malware on the Web is by using infected plugins.
Plugins are handy add-ons that grant more functionality to a given CMS and are widely used among the WordPress community.
Although useful and very helpful in many situations, some plugins can be created to bear malware and be used as a vessel for further distribution, or a harmless plugin can be out of date or with weak security measures and therefore malicious software access it easily and from there infect your website.
This is why, when creating a site with WordPress, it is important to install plugins from reliable developers and always update your plugin library to the latest possible version.
Downloading Software Via Suspicious Websites
Pirate websites and other such places that offer paid content for free usually contain numerous malware threads. The way such websites function is simple – the content you wish to download resembles very closely the original software platform you wish to use and is oftentimes infected with a type of malicious software.
If you download such content, the software can quickly infect your operational system and eventually head to the server that hosts your website and to your web pages.
As a rule of thumb, avoid visiting pirate websites and don’t download anything from such places.
If you stumble upon a website that looks suspicious, simply leave it right away.
Uploading Malware-Infected Files to Your Website
There are cases in which you upload a file you want to use on your website and turns out this file contains malware once it gets uploaded to the server, immediately attacks your website.
To prevent such events, it is important to use various types of website protection, so the thread is detected and taken care of before it can infect your pages.
Phishing Emails
The sole purpose of phishing emails is to make you open an attached file or visit a website that contains malware.
The idea behind this approach is simple – the email contains false alarm information that tries to make you feel anxious and take action under the feeling of urgency.
Usually, you are prompted to download an attached email file or visit a malicious website. Once you do so, the malware has been unleashed and can infect your site.
In most cases, via phishing emails, an institution claims you have a problem – a bank, state authority, and in some cases police and even layers.
The catch is that oftentimes such phishing emails strongly resemble the layout of an official institution, but they lead to a malicious website that can affect you negatively in 2 ways:
- Once you land on the website such emails lead to, malware, and your website gets infected.
- The website you land on prompts you to download a file that is infected with malware and once downloaded, the malicious software gets to your website.
How to spot phishing emails?
If you remain calm and pay attention, you will immediately notice the malicious intent behind such emails. Usually, phishing emails are characterized by:
- Very generic greeting.
- Poorly written text.
- A strange claim.
- Inconsistencies in email addresses, links, and domain names.
- In the majority of situations, phishing emails imply urgency – act now or suffer negative consequences.
Once you notice a phishing email in your mailbox, simply delete it.
Types of Website Malware
Malware is a pretty broad term and encompasses various types of malicious software that work and damage your website in different ways.
There are numerous types of website malware, and the most widely known ones are:
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that disables your website data access until a ransom is paid. In most cases, victims of ransomware can’t access their personal information, transaction data, and site visitors’ data.
In short, ransomware isolates you from your website and won’t give you any access back until you pay a hefty price.
Spyware
Such malware collects various types of your website data without your knowledge and consent. In most cases, the data being collected is passwords, pin codes, payment details, and other useful information.
A Trojan
Trojans, or trojan horses, are types of malicious software that disguise in the form of other useful software or code. Once this seemingly harmless code or software is uploaded to your site, the trojan takes control of the website information and/or damages its functionality.
Trojan malware can hide itself in various apps, patches, and even email attachments.
Worms
This type of malware can access your website via vulnerabilities in the operating system of either the web server or any of your computer devices.
Once on the operational system, worms can steal personal and sensitive website data, launch DDoS attacks, and even ransom attacks.
Viruses
Viruses manage to insert themselves in various software apps and once such apps are being launched, the virus activates itself and can gain access to your website.
Once it accesses your website, the virus can steal sensitive data, launch DDoS attacks, and conduct various types of ransom attacks.
Common Signs of Website Malware Infection
Sometimes, it is quite apparent when a website is being infected with malware, however, this is not always the case. There are times when the negative results of such infection are not immediately obvious.
The good news is that there are some common signs of malware infection you can look for, should you suspect such activity on your website:
- Your website login credentials have been changed without your knowledge or consent.
- Website files are moved, corrupted, or modified, without your knowledge or consent.
- The website layout has been changed without your knowledge or consent.
- Alert notifications in search consoles.
- Unexplained slow website speed.
More severe signs of malware infection:
- Your domain name leads to a different website than your own.
- Spam, ads, and popups appear on your website.
- A new website admin account has been created.
- Your website doesn’t appear anymore in search results, although recently has been ranking well.
How to Protect From Website Malware
Although dealing with website malware may sound menacing, there’s a lot you can do to protect your site from such malicious attacks.
The most important thing you can do is to start implementing advanced website security and safety measures immediately when you start working on it.
The second important thing is to conduct periodical maintenance scans, so you can act quickly and on time, should a threat be noticed.
Here’s what you can do to protect your website from malware:
Use Reliable and Proven Web Hosting Service
A reliable hosting service from an established web hosting provider is of great importance for the safety of your website.
Reliable providers take care of all security measures regarding the hosting servers and stored websites.
Such is the case with AwardSpace – our web hosting plans are not only versatile and ensure great performance, but also come with a multi-layered system of website security measures such as virus protection, firewall protection, SSL Certificates, and periodic website backups.
Periodically Update and Patch Your Website
Updating your website helps you benefit from the latest security measures right away.
This is why, if there is some system patch available on any of your website components, install it without hesitation, to prevent malicious software from infecting your website.
Scan Website for Malware
You should scan your website for malware oftentimes, as this can show you whether there is some infection on your pages also many malware scanners reveal weak spots on your websites, which can help you strengthen them and make your site even more reliable.
As a rule of thumb, make scans once per week to ensure everything on your website performs well and is well-protected.
Make Periodic Website Backups
Sometimes, malware can reach your website and infect it. In such cases, one of the easiest and fastest ways to deal with the infection is by reverting to an old and healthy copy of your website.
This is why, a common practice is to make periodic backups of all your website data and be consistent.
As a good rule of thumb, just like the website scan, you should make a safe copy of your website once a week. This period ensures that you won’t get back to too old version of your pages and will need to apply all the missing changes.
Also, make sure to make a backup just before some major website maintenance and change, as a means of protection, should an unexpected event occur and your pages get infected.
To benefit optimally from website backups, find a hosting provider that also makes periodic website backups as a means of protection. By using the services of such a hosting provider, you make sure that at least two versions of a website backup are always available.
Because of how important backups are, at AwardSpace, all our hosting plans come with an automatic website backup feature – periodically, the latest version of your website is stored on a separate isolated server, so you can quickly get back to it in the event of a malicious attack.
Use SSL Certificates
SSL Certificates are a fundamental part of each modern website. Because of how effectively they protect your website from malicious software, search engines also consider having one (or not having one) as a ranking factor.
This is why, getting an SSL certificate is of paramount importance for the well-being of your website, site data, transactions and sensitive data protection, and overall website security.
If you are interested in the topic of SSL certificates, then check out our articles talking more about the SSL certificates:
- What Is SSL and How Does It Protect My Website?
- Do I Need an SSL Certificate? 5 Advantages of Having One
- Do I Need a Separate SSL Certificate for the “www” and “non-www” Versions of My Website?
- What Is the Difference Between WHOIS Privacy Protection and SSL Certificate Encryption?
- What Is the Difference Between SSL Certificate Encryption and Website Password Protection?
Use HTTPS Connection
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP. Such connection encrypts any transmitted data sent via your website, and makes it impossbile to decypher from unauthorized parties. Read more here: how does HTTPS work
Use Strong Passwords
As a rule of thumb, don’t underestimate the reliability of passwords. Use strong passwords at all times for all your accounts and systems on your website. Here are some tips on how to make a strong password:
- Avoid using telephone numbers, special dates, and names.
- Make your password long.
- Include various types of symbols.
- Change passwords periodically for extra security.
Conclusion
Malware can be very harmful to your website, visitors, and personal information. This is why you should use various security measures at all times, so you deter any type of malicious software on your website pages.
