Bringing a hacked business website back from the brink

A business owner reached out in the worst possible state: their WordPress website — the front door to their business — had been compromised. Customers couldn't trust what they were seeing, and every hour the site stayed compromised was doing quiet damage to a reputation that took years to build.

By the time most owners find me, they've already tried the obvious things and made it worse. They're not looking for someone to panic with them. They're looking for someone calm who has seen this before.

Recovering a hacked site is methodical work, not guesswork. Rushing it is how you miss the backdoor that lets the attacker walk straight back in a week later. My process:

• Isolated the site and took a full forensic snapshot before touching anything, so nothing was lost and the damage could be understood.
• Ran a complete malware scan across core files, themes, plugins, and the database to map every piece of malicious code — not just the obvious symptom.
• Identified the entry point — the outdated plugin, weak credential, or vulnerability the attacker actually used — because cleaning without finding the door is temporary.
• Removed all malware, injected code, and hidden backdoors, then replaced compromised core files with clean versions.
• Submitted the site for review to lift any Google blacklist or “deceptive site” warning and restore its standing in search.
• Hardened the essentials before handing it back, so recovery didn't just return the site to the same vulnerable state it started in.

The site was returned clean, delisted, and back online — but more importantly, the owner got their peace of mind back. That's the part that matters. A website isn't just files; for the person who owns it, it's their livelihood.