--- title: WordPress Malware Removal: 191 Hacked Sites Fixed in 14 Days url: https://sukeshdas.com/project/wordpress-malware-removal-191-hacked-sites/ description: WordPress malware removal case study: 191 hacked sites cleaned, Japanese keyword hack removed from Google and security hardened in 14 days. Zero re-infections. --- [Back to portfolio](https://sukeshdas.com/portfolio/) # WordPress Malware Removal for 191 Hacked Sites in 14 Days WordPress malware removal case study: I cleaned 191 hacked sites for a US client, fixed the Japanese keyword hack in Google, hardened security and moved every site to SiteGround in 14 days, six weeks ahead of the 8-week plan. [Get a free quoteGet a quote](https://sukeshdas.com/contact-us/) [Get your hacked site cleaned](https://sukeshdas.com/contact/) ![WordPress malware removal case study: 191 hacked WordPress sites fixed in 14 days, with Google showing Japanese spam pages before the cleanup](https://sukeshdas.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wordpress-malware-removal-191-hacked-sites.webp) Results Hacked WordPress sites cleaned and secured 191 Delivered ahead of schedule 6 weeks > One of the best developers I worked with. **Client** United States Client review A client in the United States came to me with a problem most site owners never face at this scale: 191 hacked WordPress sites in one network. Every site had been hit by the Japanese keyword hack, and they all sat on unstable hosting that made each fix harder. The original plan gave the WordPress malware removal 8 weeks. The client needed the network back sooner, so I cleaned, secured and migrated all 191 sites in 14 days. A 50-second walkthrough of the job, from 29,300 spam pages in Google to a clean malware scan. ## The problem: a network-wide Japanese keyword hack The Japanese keyword hack, also called Japanese SEO spam, fills a WordPress site with thousands of fake shop pages that only Google sees. Visitors get the normal site, so owners often find out only when their search results turn into a Japanese store. One site in this network had 10,400 spam pages indexed. Another had 29,300. Backdoors brought the pages back after every manual cleanup, and the hosting kept going down while the work was in progress. ![Google search for one hacked WordPress site showing about 10,400 Japanese keyword hack spam pages indexed](https://sukeshdas.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wordpress-malware-removal-10400-spam-pages.webp) ## How I removed the malware from 191 WordPress sites ### 1. A full malware scan on every site Each of the 191 sites got a complete scan of its files and database before anything changed. Backups came first, so nothing could be lost along the way. ### 2. Cleaning infected files and databases - Replaced infected WordPress core, theme and plugin files with clean copies. - Removed backdoors and the scripts that kept regenerating spam pages. - Cleaned injected code, hidden links and spam text from the databases. - Deleted unknown admin accounts left behind by the attackers. ### 3. Removing the Japanese spam from Google Cleaning a hacked site is only half the job if Google still shows the spam. I made sure every spam URL returned a proper “not found” response, cleaned up Search Console for each property and pushed Google to recrawl, so the Japanese results dropped out and the real pages came back. ### 4. WordPress security hardening - Reset passwords and security keys across every site. - Updated WordPress, themes and plugins, and removed anything unused. - Disabled dashboard file editing and blocked PHP in the uploads folder. - Applied updated security settings so a new attack gets stopped early. ### 5. Migration to SiteGround The old hosting was a big part of the problem, so all 191 cleaned sites moved to SiteGround for better stability and performance. After the move I tested every site, checked links and confirmed the hardening was still in place. ## The result ![Before and after WordPress malware removal: 29,300 Japanese spam pages in Google before, and a clean scan with no malware and no blacklisting after](https://sukeshdas.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wordpress-malware-removal-before-after.webp) - All 191 hacked WordPress sites cleaned, secured and migrated. - Zero re-infections after delivery. - Delivered in 14 days, six weeks ahead of the 8-week plan. - Clean search results, stable hosting and a network the client can rely on again. ## What the client said ![Five-star client review for the WordPress malware removal: One of the best developers I worked with](https://sukeshdas.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wordpress-malware-removal-client-review.webp) ## Need a WordPress security expert? Whether it is one hacked site or a whole network, I can remove the malware, fix the Japanese keyword hack in Google and lock the site down so it stays clean. [Get your hacked site cleaned](/contact-us/), or read about a [single-site Japanese spam cleanup](/project/german-school-website-malware-cleanup/) I did for a school in Germany. ## Services used on this project 3 services - [WordPress website development Custom WordPress sites on a lightweight theme, with the block editor set up the way you will actually use it and only the plugins you need.](https://sukeshdas.com/services/wordpress-web-design/) - [Website migration Moving between WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and Webflow, or to a better host, with a plan that protects content, rankings and email.](https://sukeshdas.com/services/website-migration/) - [Malware cleaning and security setup Hacked, redirecting or flagged by Google? I remove the infection, find out how it got in, close that gap and request removal of the warnings.](https://sukeshdas.com/services/wordpress-malware-removal/) Share this project ## Project details Category Malware removal Client Private client (multi-site network) Industry Construction and trades, Local services Services [WordPress website development](https://sukeshdas.com/services/wordpress-web-design/), [Website migration](https://sukeshdas.com/services/website-migration/), [Malware cleaning and security setup](https://sukeshdas.com/services/wordpress-malware-removal/) Timeline 14 days Location United States [Get your hacked site cleaned](https://sukeshdas.com/contact/) ## Have a similar project? Tell me what you need. I'll respond within 4 hours. 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