Websites get attacked every day, usually by automated tools trying old passwords and out-of-date plugins. Our hosting partner scans the websites we host for malware, and we act on what it finds.
If we look after your website
If you’re on a website plan or website care, we deal with it for you, and we’ll let you know if anything is needed from you.
If you have hosting only, or a VPS
You look after your own website’s files, so we’ll ask you to act:
- We email you the names and locations of the files that were flagged.
- When you next sign in, a Security alert message appears. Choose View files, download or remove to open the Security alerts page, where each file has Download and Remove buttons.
- You have 72 hours to remove the files or tell us why they’re safe. We’ll remind you 24 hours before the time is up.
- If they’re still there after 72 hours, we remove them, to protect your website, your visitors and everyone else on our hosting.
We always keep a copy first
Before anything is removed, we keep an encrypted copy of the file for 30 days, in case it turns out to be something you need. Downloads come as a zip with the password infected, so the file can’t run by accident when you open it.
Why files get flagged
Most often, it’s an out-of-date plugin or theme, a weak or reused password, or an old copy of a website left in a folder. A flagged backup file can be a false alarm, but it’s still worth removing it from the website itself.
Questions about an alert? Reply to the email or contact hello@powellhosts.co.uk.