When Tori Bond Celebrant’s website began displaying “Access denied”, I investigated what was preventing access and helped work through the recovery.
I confirmed that the website had been compromised. The malicious code included a backdoor capable of uploading, changing and deleting server files. I also identified further infected files in the supplied website archive.
The access problem involved more than file permissions. I traced the repeated restrictions to IONOS’s malware quarantine: changing permissions alone would not resolve the infection, because the hosting scanner would lock the affected files again.
I identified missing WordPress files and guided their replacement with clean copies. Dashboard access was subsequently restored. I also investigated the missing homepage and established that its content still existed, the pages were saved as drafts, which prevented the expected homepage settings from appearing.
The work restored access, replaced unsecure plugins, and added extra security meassures.
