How We Restored and Secured a Multi-Site Publishing Network After a Severe Malware Infiltration

Digital disruption rarely announces itself politely.

Sometimes, the first warning sign is nothing more than a sluggish website. A login page that refuses to load. A suspicious script. A sudden spike in bot traffic from regions where you have no audience.

For one European-based publishing client operating a large, content-heavy ecosystem of 45 WordPress websites, the warning signs appeared almost overnight — and then escalated.

Pages were intermittently inaccessible. Bots were hammering login URLs. Files appeared that no one recognised. Back-end dashboards slowed to a crawl.

It quickly became clear:

Their entire network had been compromised.

That was the moment we were brought in.

The Challenge: A Full Ecosystem Under Strain

When our digital security team conducted the initial assessment, the situation reflected a scenario many organisations face without realising it:

• Hidden malware seeded across multiple sites
• Legacy vulnerabilities inherited from previous developers
• Scripts running inside directories that should contain only media files
• Automated bots attempting tens of thousands of requests within minutes
• Cron jobs interfering with legitimate site functions
• Server-level triggers creating instability rather than support
• File structures quietly altered to allow re-entry after every deletion

The issue was not a single point of failure.
It was a layered compromise across a sizeable digital ecosystem — and the client needed all 45 websites stabilised quickly and future-proofed thoroughly.

Our Response: Quiet, Surgical, Methodical

We executed a highly structured, multi-phase remediation operation designed for businesses with complex, multi-domain environments.

1. Deep Core Restoration

We restored the integrity of system-critical WordPress files without affecting any published content or site structure. This ensured clean foundations across the network.

2. Elimination of Concealed Malicious Scripts

Our analysts tracked, exposed, and removed backdoors, injected scripts, rogue cron tasks, and disguised PHP files that had spread across various directories.

3. Fortification of High-risk Directories

We implemented safeguards to ensure that no file inside the /uploads/ directory — the most exploited location in WordPress — could execute unauthorised code.

4. Protective Rewrite Rules

We deployed a bespoke security perimeter that:

• Blocks XML-RPC exploits
• Restricts automated brute-force attempts
• Intercepts malicious POST requests
• Shields login pages and sensitive endpoints
• Forces bots to pass behavioural checks rather than just identification

5. Advanced Rate-Limiting and Traffic Conditioning

Our team rebalanced how browsers, crawlers and automated traffic interact with the websites — protecting legitimate visitors while restricting aggressive sources.

6. Access Protocol Rationalisation

We restructured administrator identities, reinforced permission hierarchies and obfuscated predictable usernames — strengthening human-level access control.

7. Hosting Environment Alignment

Working with the hosting provider, we aligned system behaviour across all domains, ensuring consistent performance and eliminating server-side vulnerabilities.

8. Ongoing Detection and Early-Warning Mechanisms

We established a monitoring structure that alerts the client long before suspicious activity becomes a threat.

The Outcome: Stability, Security and Confidence Restored

Across all 45 websites, the transformation was immediate and measurable:

✔ Clean, stable, uncompromised installations
✔ Noticeable speed and performance improvements
✔ Dramatically reduced bot pressure
✔ No reinfection cases after the intervention
✔ Secure, sustainable server behaviour
✔ A publishing team able to operate without disruption

The client regained operational confidence — and their digital footprint now benefits from a level of protection appropriate for a modern, high-value publishing operation.

A Strategic Lesson for UK & European Organisations

For companies operating multiple websites — whether you’re a publisher, a charity, a think tank, a university, a cultural institution, or a multinational brand — your digital assets are only as strong as their weakest configuration.

Threats today are:

• automated
• distributed
• relentless
• and often invisible until they escalate

A slow website may be a performance issue
or the earliest sign of a coordinated exploit.

A single suspicious file may be nothing
or the entry point for a script designed to replicate across your entire estate.

In an era of aggressive bots, AI-generated malware and opportunistic exploit crawlers, website security is no longer a technical add-on; it is operational continuity.

If your organisation manages multiple websites, or you suspect something isn’t quite right…

We provide:

• malware diagnosis
• deep-level remediation
• multi-site security engineering
• structural hardening
• continuous monitoring
• and strategic long-term protection

Whether you operate 3 sites, 10 sites, or 50+, our security engineering approach scales seamlessly across your ecosystem.

Arrange a Confidential Technical Briefing

If you’d like TRW Consult to examine your website network, diagnose irregularities or strengthen your digital defences, you can request a brief here:

Let’s secure the digital infrastructure your organisation relies on — properly, thoroughly and sustainably.