5 malware scanning tools to keep your website and computer safe

Checking and scanning a website for malware is necessary to make it more secure and trustworthy. Malware is often used to steal website data such as customers' personal information, which can badly damage your website's reputation and quality. If you suspect your website has been infected, check and scan it quickly. In the article below, MONA Media will introduce the top 5 malware scanning tools malware scanning tools of the best quality today.

What is website malware?

Malware (malicious software): harmful software. Malware is made up of programs that secretly get into a network system to cause damage. It can steal personal information, harm the system and reduce a computer's performance.

When people talk about “malware”, many think “malware” and “virus” are the same thing. But a “virus” is only one type of “malware”; it doesn't cover the whole concept.

So website malware means malicious programs secretly inserted into a website's system to damage it and hold back its growth.

See more:

• How to check how trustworthy a website is (website safety)
• Website security and what you need to know to optimize it
• WordPress website security methods and plugins

Causes of website malware

There are quite a few causes that can easily leave website infected with malware. The most common are:

The website's source code already contains malware.

• When a website's source code already contains malware, the posts published from that website are infected too.
• The website has had a link link containing malware planted on it.
• Websites with malicious links planted on them usually show the links as banners on the main interface, and the links typically redirect to spam sites. This malware exploits security holes in the website, created by hackers.
• Scheduled tasks are compromised.

On some web servers, you can use Task Scheduler as a tool to run certain features automatically. But hackers can also break into the website's system, edit these automated features and insert malicious code, creating hidden scheduled tasks.

How website malware affects your computer

The many possible causes of website malware give people a headache because of the harm it does to their devices, in this case their computers.

Once website malware is installed, it spreads to the drives and files on your computer, causing system errors, and hackers can steal the information and data on it.

It opens many holes in the website's security. Too many holes make it easier for further malware to be inserted. Your computer then holds so much malware that the hard drive may fail and all data can be lost.

You lose control of the computer. If malware gets in through a website, certain processes it runs can stop you from turning the computer off or on.

The system shows errors constantly and the computer works slowly.

Too much malware on a computer causes faults, so the machine sends constant notifications, which alarms many users.

So how do you know whether a website is infected with malware? When malware gets into a website, there are common signs:

• Too many anonymous accounts.
• Some websites such as WordPress allow free account creation. If the number of anonymous accounts grows too much, your website may be infected with malware.
• Unable to log in to the admin page.
• The website administrator can't log in to the admin page, or loses admin rights on the site. Hackers may have used malware to remove admin rights.
• Website traffic drops sharply.

If visits to your website suddenly fall sharply, review your website security system, as the site may well be infected with malware.

Many spam links appear on the website pointing to other spam or adult sites, along with banners that contain spam links.

These are the easily recognized signs of a website infected with malware, and you can use them to check your own website.

Website malware scanning tools

What is a malware scanner?

Website malware is more and more widespread and causes many problems for websites and devices. Website malware scanners were created to deal with this.

These scanners help websites scan their security systems. There are many free and paid malware scanners, to suit each website's needs and choices.

What malware scanners do

In general, malware scanners do the following:

• Scan for malicious software on the website.
• Find faults in the website's security system.
• Scan for malware.
• Scan the links on the website.
• Scan files and databases directly.

Top 5 website malware scanners today

Malware comes in many forms, and different scanners handle different types depending on their main function. Several website malware scanners are highly rated:

Sucuri SiteCheck: checking the safety of shortened links

How it works:

Sucuri SiteCheck checks the links that lead to the websites users visit. Many businesses, individuals and websites shorten and adjust links so a very long original link doesn't spoil how a page looks.

Sucuri SiteCheck lets users see the true address of an original link hidden behind a shortened one, so they avoid clicking unverified shortened links and the risks of malware-laden or fake websites.

Advantages: Free and simple to use; the system has a box for scanning a link. All you do is paste the link and wait for Sucuri to return the results. There is a free WordPress plugin. Cross-platform website malware scanning.

Cons: Sucuri SiteCheck isn't as detailed as other tools.

Quttera

How it works:

Quttera is another tool that scans websites for malware. However, it only scans WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Bulletin and SharePoint sites. Quttera then returns scan results that include:

• File status (clean, suspicious, malicious).
• Blacklist status.
• External links.
• External links that are blacklisted.

Pros: Free and simple to use: paste the website link you want to scan into the scan box and Quttera returns a results table. There is a WordPress plugin.

Cons: Scans for malware on certain sites: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Bulletin, SharePoint.

WPScan: a dedicated tool for WordPress

WPScan is a vulnerability scanner built for WordPress. It installs as a WordPress plugin and scans all external links and any malware on your WordPress site.

Pros: Free (daily scans cost money). Effective for WordPress users. Checks vulnerabilities in WordPress core, themes and plugins. Flexible ways to use it (install on a server, in the cloud, or as a plugin).

Cons: Built only for WordPress, with no support for other platforms. No daily scans.

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• What is Jetpack? What to know about the Jetpack WordPress plugin
• WordPress auto-news plugin: an effective SEO tool for news websites.

Detectify

How it works:

Detectify is a tool that earns its price, thanks to very detailed scanning for vulnerabilities (1,500+), built with contributions from reputable white-hat hackers. To start, you first verify your website, then paste in URL the site you want scanned so the system can start work.

Pros:  Scans any website. Extremely detailed scanning (1,500+ vulnerabilities). Distinctive scanning method. Free 14-day trial.

Cons: No long-term free plan, and fairly expensive ($60/month).

SiteLock

SiteLock has plans with their own malware scanning features. Depending on the plan, users can find the features and scan frequency that suit an individual or a business. SiteLock works on every platform.

Pros: Wide range of services, making it easier to choose. Scanning can detect up to 10 million threats. When it finds a vulnerability, the system suggests a fix. There is a WordPress plugin.

Cons: Plans are fairly expensive, higher than competitors. A monthly or yearly subscription is required to remove malware and repair a hacked website. Scans pages less often than other services.

The business's malware scanning tools are now familiar to websites because of the real benefit they bring. With malware growing to alarming levels, malware scanners are more necessary than ever.

See more:

• What is DDoS? Everything about denial-of-service attacks on the internet
• What is a local attack? How to defend against local attacks effectively
• 14 signs your website has been hacked and how to deal with them
• How to check a link for viruses and test the safety of a link