Website security and clean-up anywhere in Canada
A hacked website is an emergency, and emergencies do not wait for someone to drive across town. This is entirely remote work and always has been — we have cleaned sites for owners in provinces we have never set foot in, usually starting within hours.
The clean-up itself is only the visible half. Removing the injected code matters, but so does finding how it got in, because a site cleaned without closing the entry point is reinfected within weeks. We look for the route in, and we say plainly when we cannot find it, because that changes what you should do next.
There is a Canadian dimension people miss. If customer data was exposed, PIPEDA requires you to report breaches posing a real risk of significant harm to the Privacy Commissioner and to the individuals affected. Quebec’s Law 25 goes further. That is a legal obligation, not an optional courtesy, and it starts running from when you find out.
We work with businesses across Canada on both emergency clean-ups and the ordinary hardening that prevents the next one.
Website Security and Malware Clean-Up in Toronto — Frequently Asked Questions
What to do when a site is hacked, what it costs, and how to stop it happening again — the questions Toronto business owners ask when their website has been compromised.
My website has been hacked. What do I do first?
Do not delete anything. The infected files are the evidence of how they got in, and a site cleaned without finding the entry point gets reinfected, usually within days. Take the site offline if it is serving malware to visitors, then get someone to look at it. Call us on (647) 385-5532 and we will tell you what we are seeing.
How much does a malware clean-up cost?
A straightforward clean-up on a small site is typically $500 to $1,200. A serious compromise — multiple backdoors, an infected database, or a site already blacklisted by Google — runs higher. We quote after looking, and we will tell you honestly if a rebuild is cheaper than a clean-up, which it sometimes is.
How long does it take to clean a hacked site?
Most clean-ups take one to three days. Removing the visible infection is quick; the time goes into finding every backdoor they left behind and identifying the way in. Getting a Google blacklist warning lifted adds a few days on top, since that depends on their review queue.
Will Google remove the warning from my site?
Yes, once it is genuinely clean. We submit the review request through Search Console after the clean-up. Warnings usually clear within a few days. Requesting a review before the site is properly clean is counterproductive — a failed review makes the next one slower.
How did they get in?
Almost always an out-of-date plugin, theme or CMS core, occasionally a weak password or a compromised hosting account. Rarely anything sophisticated. Finding the specific route matters because that is the only thing that stops it happening again, and it is the part most clean-up services skip.
How do I stop it happening again?
Keep everything updated, reduce the number of plugins, use strong unique passwords with two-factor authentication, and take backups that are stored off the server and actually tested. Most of that is what a maintenance plan covers. See website maintenance.
Do you work on sites you did not build?
Yes — most security work is on sites built by someone else, often years ago by someone no longer contactable. We do not need the original developer, and we do not need to know the history to clean it.
