The Ultimate Guide to Scanning Your Website for Malware Infections

Malware is one of the top threats facing websites today. I know first-hand from my experience as an IT security analyst that a single infection can wreak havoc. Customer data being stolen. Resources consumed for crypto mining. Being blacklisted in search engines. These are just a few potential consequences.

The good news is that with regular scanning, you can detect malware early and prevent devastating outcomes. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover:

• The growing threat of malware in 2023
• 8 awesome free tools to scan your website
• How to leverage scans to boost security
• My tips as a data security analyst

By the end, you‘ll be armed with the knowledge to implement an airtight malware detection strategy. Let‘s get to it!

The Malware Epidemic in 2023

Malware has been around for decades, but the threat is only intensifying each year. Here are some statistics that blew my mind as an analyst:

• Over 1 billion malware infections now exist worldwide according to AV-Test Institute.
• Google reported blocking nearly 1.2 trillion malware threats in 2021 – a 3x increase over 2016 levels!
• Small businesses experienced a 200% spike in ransomware attacks from 2020 to 2021 based on FBI data.
• The global cost of malware could reach $265 billion by 2025, up from $157 billion in 2021 according to Cybersecurity Ventures.

Several factors are driving this exponential growth:

Increasing internet usage – More people online means more targets for hackers to attack. There will be 5.3 billion internet users worldwide in 2023 according to the International Telecommunication Union.

Profitability – Malware enables incredibly lucrative cybercrime activities like stealing credentials for financial fraud and harvesting computing power for crypto mining.

Vulnerable legacy systems – Many organizations still run outdated software and infrastructure full of security flaws that are trivial for malware to exploit.

Evasion techniques – Attackers constantly adapt malware with obfuscation to evade traditional signature-based detection. Zero-day exploits and fileless malware are also on the rise.

Targeting small sites – Cybercriminals today often target smaller websites with weaker security versus large enterprises.

This data clearly shows that managing the growing malware threat must be priority one for any website owner – large or small. Even if your site hasn‘t been hit yet, an infection could still strike at any time as attackers cast a wider net.

8 Essential Tools to Scan for Website Malware

The best defense is applying routine scans to catch infections early before they can do serious damage. Here are 8 free and easy-to-use tools I recommend for identifying malware and other website threats:

1. Sucuri SiteCheck

Sucuri SiteCheck quickly scans a website domain for known indicators of compromise. It‘s great for a quick first look at potential issues.

Here are the key things Sucuri checks for:

• Malware payloads – Detects attack code like redirects, hidden iFrames and scripts.

• Blacklists – Checks over a dozen databases including Google Safe Browsing and Norton.

• Defacements – Flags if the homepage has been modified by attackers.

• Spam – Identifies spammy doors pages and content to prevent blacklisting.

Sucuri SiteCheck delivers results in under a minute, giving you peace of mind or early warning on infections. I suggest making it part of your regular rotation.

2. Google Safe Browsing

As one of the largest web companies, Google has an expansive view into what websites are sending users to malware. They provide their Safe Browsing diagnostic tool to check your own site against their database.

Simply enter a URL and Google will analyze the domain for:

• Malware – If the site directly hosts malware or links users to infected sites.

• Social engineering – Deceptive content designed to trick users to unsafe sites.

• Unwanted software – Utilities like bookmark managers that don‘t provide enough user value.

• Significant security vulnerabilities – Unpatched bugs like SQLi that could be exploited to infect users.

I love leveraging Google‘s tool because if your website is flagged, it could appear prominently as a threat in Google search results. Their criteria aligns closely with user safety perceptions.

3. URLVoid

URLVoid offers one of the quickest malware checks available. It cross-checks your site against over 40 online reputation and threat intelligence sources including:

• VirusTotal
• Sucuri
• Yandex
• PhishTank
• Spamhaus

The scan takes just seconds, delivering a simple clean or suspicious verdict. The extensive data sources powering URLVoid‘s backend make it a great periodic check even though the output report contains minimal detail.

4. Quttera

Quttera offers one of the most comprehensive malware scan reports. In addition to detecting threats, it provides insights into a website‘s technologies including:

• Content management system – WordPress, Joomla, etc.

• JavaScript libraries – jQuery, Angular, and other JS assets.

• WHOIS registration – Domain owner contact details.

• Estimated traffic – Monthly visits based on analytics platforms detected.

Having a single view into both the technology stack and threats can be invaluable in cleaning up after a malware infection. It helps pinpoint the entry point.

5. VirusTotal

Owned by Google, VirusTotal is arguably the most robust free malware detection engine available. It analyzes submitted websites using:

• 70+ anti-malware scanners – Including BitDefender, Kaspersky, Microsoft, and more leading vendors.

• Thousands of domain/IP reputation sources – Contributed by security researchers and partners.

This massive scale allows VirusTotal to identify even obscure new threats missed by other tools. However, false positives are still possible given the vast coverage.

6. Web Inspector

Web Inspector is the only free scanner I know that crawls an entire website looking for threats. Most tools only analyze the homepage.

The crawl examines every page and downloads resources like scripts, revealing threats other scanners miss. The trade-off is scans can take 5+ minutes for larger sites.

Web Inspector checks for issues like:

• Malware payloads

• Vulnerable applications – WordPress, Joomla, etc.

• Outdated server software – Vulnerable versions of Apache, PHP, MySQL.

• Blacklist status

For maximum coverage, I recommend Web Inspector as part of your toolkit despite the longer scans.

7. SiteGuarding

A relative newcomer, SiteGuarding has already become a favourite for quick automated website scans:

• Malware – Checks site code for malicious scripts.

• Blacklists – Over 30 sources including Google Safe Browsing.

• Website status – If the site is up/down.

• SSL certificate – Validity and issuer details.

The entire process completes in about 30 seconds. I suggest integrating SiteGuarding as a simple yet effective periodic surface scan.

8. Google Webmaster Tools

While not a dedicated scanner, Google Webmaster Tools provides insights into malware detected on your site:

• Malware alerts – Total alerts Google has flagged.

• Last detection – Date and example of latest malware found.

• Affected pages – URLs identified containing malware.

• Manual actions – If Google has penalized your pages due to malware.

As the world‘s most popular search engine, Google‘s data is invaluable for identifying threats users could be exposed to on your site.

Securing Your Website with Proactive Scanning

Now that we‘ve covered the top website malware scanners available, let‘s discuss critical steps for integrating them into an airtight security strategy:

Schedule Regular Scans

The most important practice is to continually scan your site on a set schedule – at minimum monthly. Malware infections can occur at any time, so proactive monitoring is key.

I recommend rotating between a few different tools for the best coverage:

• VirusTotal – Deep anti-malware engine
• Sucuri – Broad detection of common threats
• Web Inspector – Comprehensive site crawl
• Google Safe Browsing – Verify Google blacklist status

Scheduling scans to run automatically ensures new threats don‘t slip through the cracks.

Address Any Infections Found Immediately

If a scan does uncover malware on your website, address it promptly – within 24 hours if possible. Malware becomes more difficult to fully remove over time as scripts bury themselves deeper into code. It also leaves the window open for further damage like data theft.

If unsure how to remove the infection, it‘s wise to hire a professional familiar with your CMS and server environment to handle cleanup and get your site secure again.

Implement Proactive Security Measures

While scanning is crucial, preventing infections in the first place through proactive security should also be a priority:

• Patch CMS and plugins – Keep WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and all plugins updated. Sign up for security update alerts.

• Strong passwords – Use randomly generated passwords of 15+ characters for all accounts and applications.

• Limit user accounts – Only enable admin accounts required and disable when not being used.

• Web application firewall (WAF) – Implement a WAF to block exploit attempts targeting vulnerabilities proactively.

• Backups – Maintain recent offsite backups to quickly restore your site if impacted by malware or ransomware.

• Ongoing monitoring – In addition to scans, consider a service that monitors your site 24/7 for threats and anomalous behavior indicative of malware.

The time invested in security hardening gives you tremendous peace of mind against future headaches.

Closing Thoughts

I hope this guide has armed you with greater insights and tools to defend your online presence against the growing threat of malware. Please feel free to reach out if you have any other specific questions as you implement website scanning. Here are a few key takeaways:

• Malware threats are exponentially increasing each year. Small sites are at major risk.
• Leverage a mix of scanners for maximum detection of threats.
• Schedule scans frequently to catch infections early.
• Proactively harden website security beyond just scanning.

Protecting your customers and brand from malware pays dividends across the board. Wishing you the best of luck in your ongoing security journey!