IR-007 • Anonymized recovery report
Fake CAPTCHA Malware Removal
Visitors were pushed to fake verification pages and suspicious downloads.
Business impact
Visitors were pushed to fake verification pages and suspicious downloads.
Symptoms observed
- Fake “verify you are human” screen
- Random redirects after first visit
- External JavaScript loaded from unknown domains
Investigation
The investigation focused on confirming active compromise, mapping the infection scope and identifying whether the incident was caused by vulnerable software, compromised access, injected database content or persistent backdoor code.
Root cause
A malicious script was injected sitewide through a compromised setting and loaded fake CAPTCHA behavior.
Recovery actions
- Identified external script loaders
- Cleaned database-injected scripts
- Checked theme and plugin files
- Cleared cache layers
- Hardened admin access and plugin updates
Hardening
After cleanup, the site should be hardened around the root cause: update or replace vulnerable components, rotate credentials, remove unnecessary administrators, review file permissions and add monitoring for recurring indicators.
Outcome
The fake CAPTCHA screen was removed and the site loaded normally for visitors.
FAQ
Is this a real client name?
No. Reports are anonymized to protect client privacy. The structure reflects real-world recovery scenarios and common incident patterns.
Can WP•FIX provide a similar report?
Yes. Business recovery cases can include a clear summary of symptoms, findings, recovery actions, likely root cause and hardening recommendations.
Why is root cause important?
Without root-cause work, malware can return through the same backdoor, vulnerable plugin, compromised account or hosting-level access path.
Need a recovery report for your incident?
Open an incident and include the URL, symptoms, recent changes and any Google or hosting warnings.
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