Emergency Hack Response

Your site is hacked. Do not panic. Do not randomly delete files. Call us first.

A hacked WordPress site is stressful, but the wrong response makes it worse. Deleting files destroys diagnostic evidence. Installing multiple security plugins creates conflicts. Restoring from an old backup reintroduces the same vulnerability. We've handled hundreds of WordPress compromises, let us run the recovery.

Initialize Diagnostic Read Protocol →

4hrurgent acknowledgement target

7+years WordPress reliability

Humanspecialist diagnosis

The Emergency Recovery Protocol

**Step 1, Contain:** We put the site into maintenance mode to stop active harm to visitors while we work, without destroying the evidence we need to diagnose the attack. **Step 2, Diagnose:** We identify the attack vector, the specific vulnerability that was exploited, before removing a single infected file. This prevents reinfection. **Step 3, Clean:** Full file system and database remediation. Every infected file, every backdoor, every injected script, removed. **Step 4, Harden:** The entry point is permanently closed. Passwords, secret keys, and file permissions are reset. Vulnerable software is updated or replaced. **Step 5, Restore reputation:** Google blacklist removal request submitted. We monitor the warning removal and verify clean search engine status. **Step 6, Prevent recurrence:** We brief you on exactly what happened, why it happened, and what ongoing protection you need to prevent it happening again.

Post-Mortem Report

Case Study: The Redirect Hack That Ran for 11 Days Undetected

SymptomA professional coaching practice's WordPress site had been silently redirecting mobile visitors to a gambling site for 11 days before a client mentioned it. Desktop visitors saw the normal site, the redirect was device-specific and invisible during standard browsing.

ResolutionA malicious JavaScript snippet had been injected into the active theme's `functions.php` file. It detected the user-agent string of mobile browsers and executed a redirect only for mobile traffic, making it invisible to the site owner browsing on desktop.

Business Impact

We removed the injected code, identified the vulnerable plugin that had allowed the injection, updated and hardened the installation, and submitted for Google review. The redirect was eliminated within two hours of starting work. The 11-day exposure had not yet triggered a Google blacklist flag, a fortunate outcome.

Common questions

Questions answered.

My site was hacked through a plugin I deleted. Is it still vulnerable?

Deleting the plugin removes the entry point but doesn't clean the malware that was already installed through it. The hack payload, backdoors, injected code, remains and must be manually removed.

Should I restore from backup?

Only after the vulnerability is identified and patched. Restoring a clean backup to a still-vulnerable environment results in reinfection, often within hours.

How long does emergency recovery take?

Initial triage and malware removal for a standard WordPress site typically takes 4–8 hours. Complex infections with large databases or multiple backdoors may take longer.

Is my visitors' data compromised?

This depends on the type of attack. Redirect hacks and spam injection typically don't access customer data. Credential-harvesting attacks may. We assess data exposure risk as part of every recovery.

Submit an Incident Report.

Whether it's an active emergency or a request for managed operations, submit your URL and symptom. Reviewed by human specialists, acknowledged within 4 hours.