How to remove Favicon.ico virus from your WordPress site?

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Favicon.ico virus - what is it? This infection allows hackers to inject files into your web server. These files contain malicious php code that can perform dangerous activities such as creating fraudulent administrator accounts or installing spyware.

The hackers then tamper with your site, steal data, and launch bigger hacking campaigns! This results in warnings in search results such as deceptive site ahead, this site may be hacked.

If the hack is not fixed, your site may later be blacklisted by Google, blocked by Yandex, and web hosting may be suspended. As a result, your traffic drops, your revenue plummets, and your business is seriously damaged.

If you're lucky, your web host will notify you that your site has been hacked and email you the details. If you're not sure if it's a favicon virus, don't worry. There are ways to scan and clean the hack.

In this article, I will show you how to easily identify favicon.ico malware. I will also tell you how to fix and prevent it.

The content of the article:

• What is malware - Favicon.ico virus?
• How to detect Favicon virus?
• How to manually detect and clean Favicon Virus?
• How to protect your website from Favicon.ico malware attack?
• In conclusion

What is malware - Favicon.ico virus?

To solve this problem, we first need to understand the favicon.ico file.

favicons: Favicons are small icons that appear on the browser tab next to the website name. These icons also appear in bookmarks or as smartphone app icons.
ICO: ICO is an image file format, the same as JPEG and PNG. Modern browsers use ICO, JPEG, PNG or GIF files to display favicons.

Now let's deal with the favicon.ico malware. Hackers use vulnerabilities on your site to gain access to your site.

Once inside, the attackers create malicious files and call them "favicon.ico". These malicious icons usually contain a randomized string of characters and numbers, such as "favicon_bdfk34.ico".

Note: A hacker can create any file, such as an HTML or JavaScript file, and name it .ico. If you see an .ico file, it doesn't have to be an image.

What does the Favicon.ico virus do?

Here are some of the main things that hackers do when favicon.ico is hacked:

1. Inject malicious code into your website files. They also create their own files in random locations.
2. The site server will be spammed with malicious files.
3. They will launch phishing scripts to steal valuable data from the site and its customers.
4. Redirect visitors to phishing or malicious websites.
5. Will send encrypted data through hidden favicons on the website, which may be criminal in nature.
6. Install spyware on a website that infiltrates your computing device, stealing internet usage data and confidential information.
7. Trick site visitors into downloading malware and ransomware onto their computers.
8. Create a new admin account so they can easily access your site again.
9. They will insert a hidden backdoor that will allow them to enter even if you delete the new administrator account.

How to detect Favicon virus?

The favicon virus is especially difficult to detect because hackers mask their malicious scripts. They also spam your website files and malicious script can be distributed in all your folders and files.

There are two ways to find favicon malware - manually or with a plugin. The manual method is tedious and dangerous. As I already mentioned, a virus can get into your main files. This makes detection difficult. However, if you'd like to know how the manual method works, I've covered it further in this section.

If you suspect that your website is infected with favicon.ico virus, you need to detect and remove it quickly. I highly recommend picking a plugin as it will get the job done quickly.

Favicon malware detection with a plugin

Using a plugin is the easiest way to detect favicon malware. There are many plugins available on the market, but not all of them are effective. To defeat this infection, you need a solution that will perform a deep scan of your site and ensure that nothing is missed.

Use the popular MalCare security plugin. There are many reasons why I recommend MalCare. Let's take a look:

• With other plugins, you must first purchase their plan in order to run the scan. With MalCare, the first scan is free! This allows you to scan your site and check for malware before you sign up for any plans.
• Many plugins use outdated malware detection methods. They are looking for malicious code that has already been discovered. This way, new and masked code will go unnoticed. The MalCare scanner overcomes this hurdle and uses smart signals that identify malicious code. It can find new malware and even hidden or masked codes by checking the behavior of the codes.
• Some antivirus scanners only check folders they think malware might be placed in. However, with a favicon virus, hackers can place it in almost any folder on your website. You want a crawler that will crawl every inch of your site, not just select folders. MalCare performs a full scan of your site so you don't have to worry about missing areas.
• One-time setup is simple and fast. You shouldn't face any hassle or delays. But even in this case, MalCare provides a 24/7 support service that will answer any doubts or questions you may have.

Thanks to these features, you can be sure that the scanner will find all traces of the virus.

How to manually detect and clean Favicon Virus?

Before I begin, I must warn you that this method comes with a lot of risk. You must have the appropriate technical knowledge to perform these steps. I do not recommend this method, even if you are an expert in the inner workings of WordPress. This is simply because even a small mistake can break your website.

AttentionA: This method can cause data loss and damage to your site. Please make a full backup of your website before proceeding.

Step 1: Identifying Favicon Files in WordPress Folders

Hackers hide the favicon.ico virus in all sorts of files and folders. Open your hosting account and open cPanel > File Manager or otherwise.

• Find your site folder. It is usually called public_html.

I recommend looking for files named "favicon" in every folder on your website. Pay special attention to the following folders:

• /plugins, /extensions, /components, /modules, /uploads, /media, /themes, /templates, or /skin folders.

Step 2. Checking scripts for malicious code

Once you find these files, you need to analyze them. Check for strings like "ALREADY_RUN_" followed by a random string. Look for keywords like "base64" and "eval". You can also tell it's a malicious php file if the script is fully encrypted. Here is an example of what the favicon.ico virus looks like:

Step 3: Remove malicious scripts

Once you identify the files, you need to delete them to get rid of the malware. Be careful as there may be other items or files that depend on these files. Removing such files can break the dependency and crash your site.

Step 4: Get rid of backdoors

I mentioned earlier that hackers also create backdoors so they can access your site whenever they want. You need to identify these malicious codes and remove them as well. Backdoors are usually very well hidden, making them difficult to detect manually.

At the same time, your site should be cleared of malware favicon.ico. However, there is no guarantee that it will disappear completely. Such attacks work like cancer. Even after all the possible healing, even if one cell survives, it's enough for the whole hack to reappear. Once you are sure that you have removed all traces of the virus files, we can begin to prevent the favicon.ico malware.

How to protect your website from Favicon.ico malware attack?

Your website was hacked due to a vulnerability that allowed hackers to gain access. You need to find the vulnerability that caused your site to be hacked and close it.

• Use a security plugin to regularly check your site for viruses.
• Make sure your main WordPress installation is updated to the latest version.
• Update all themes and plugins to the latest version.
• Regularly scan your site's themes and plugins for malicious codes.
• Remove all rogue admin users.
• Remove any plugins that you don't know and that you definitely didn't install.
• Then remove all unused plugins and themes installed on your site.
• If you have installed any pirated or hacked software, uninstall it immediately. These versions usually contain pre-installed malware.
• Take steps to improve the security of your site.

After that, I am sure that your site is protected from the favicon.ico malware attack.

In conclusion

If you are unsure, you can check if your site has been hacked. Delays in fixing the hack result in serious damage to content, brand, and reputation. Sometimes the damage is so great that it is irreparable.

You simply cannot afford to compromise when it comes to website security. That's why I highly recommend choosing a WordPress security plugin like MalCare to ensure your site is secure. You can rest easy knowing that your site is under 24/7 surveillance. Website Firewall blocks hackers from visiting your site and warns you if it detects suspicious activity.

Reading this article:

• How to safely remove phishing from a WordPress site?
• 16 WordPress security issues (vulnerabilities)

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