Case Study: How We Secured a 45-Site Publishing Network After a Major Malware Breach
By Sophie Reynolds
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- Access Protocol Rationalisation
We restructured administrator identities, reinforced permission hierarchies and obfuscated predictable usernames — strengthening human-level access control.
- Hosting Environment Alignment
Working with the hosting provider, we aligned system behaviour across all domains, ensuring consistent performance and eliminating server-side vulnerabilities.
- 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.