Saving Christmas: How we rescued a clients website from the Lock360 hack
The holiday season is a time of joy and celebration, but for one of my clients, it was turning into a nightmare! They run a successful website in the cottage industries and just as the Christmas rush was about to begin, disaster struck. Their WordPress website fell victim to the Lock360 hack. The site was compromised, their online presence was in jeopardy and SEO damaged. With a tight deadline for the busy Christmas period, it was a race against time to get them back up and running
The Lock360 Hack:
The Lock360 hack is a particularly malicious type of malware that can paralyse a website’s functionality, steal sensitive data, and lock website owners out of their own systems. For a business heavily dependent on its online presence, the situation was less than great. The website had been defaced, and the products they were showcasing had vanished.
Race Against Time
As soon as my client contacted me, we knew that time was important. With Christmas just around the corner, every minute counted. The immediate action plan included:
Isolating the Website: The first step was to isolate the infected website to prevent the hack from spreading further.
Backup Restoration: We took backups of the website to ensure a starting point. Cleaning and restoring these backups was crucial to bringing the site back to its original state.
Malware Removal: We conducted a thorough scan of the website to identify and eliminate all traces of the Lock360 malware.
Security Audit: We identified the vulnerability that allowed the hack to occur and patched it. Additionally, I increased security measures to safeguard against future attacks.
Content Recovery: The product listings and content had to be carefully restored.
Testing and Monitoring: Extensive testing was completed to ensure that the website was fully functional. Continuous monitoring was set up to detect any suspicious activities in real-time.
Securing the Website
In the process of restoring the website, we didn’t stop at just fixing the immediate issue. To prevent future attacks, we implemented various security measures, including:
Regular Updates: Keeping WordPress, themes, and plugins up to date is crucial for security. We set up automatic updates to ensure the website always had the latest security patches.
Firewall Installation: A web application firewall was installed to filter out malicious traffic and protect the website from common attacks.
Strong Password Policies: Strong password policies were enforced for all users and ensured that the admin account was well-protected.
Security Plugins: The installation of security plugins helped in actively monitoring and preventing malicious activity on the website.
Conclusion
Importantly, we secured my clients site against future attacks, giving them peace of mind they needed to continue growing their business. This experience highlights the importance of proactive security measures and the value of a skilled professional in the evolving world of online threats.