File integrity monitoring keeps a record of every core, theme, and plugin file as it should be, and alerts you the moment something changes unexpectedly — which is often the first real sign of a compromise, well before anything visible shows up on the front end. It tells you something changed; it doesn’t undo the change or tell you why on its own.
File integrity monitoring setup
Ongoing alerts the moment a core, theme, or plugin file changes unexpectedly.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
What we need from you
- Admin access to configure the monitoring plugin or service
- Confirmation of how you want to be alerted (email, dashboard notice, or both)
- Any files you know legitimately change often (certain caching or generated files), so they don’t create constant false alerts
This or something else?
| You want ongoing alerts when core, theme, or plugin files change unexpectedly | This fix covers it |
| You want a one-time scan for current vulnerabilities, not ongoing monitoring | Vulnerability scan & patch report |
| You’re already getting alerts and want to know if they’re real problems | Security plugin false positive tuning |
| You want to know what’s already changed, historically, not set up monitoring going forward | Not something file integrity monitoring alone answers — worth discussing what evidence exists |
What we do
- Establish a verified baseline of current file state across core, theme, and plugins
- Configure ongoing monitoring against that baseline
- Set up alerts through your preferred channel
- Exclude files known to legitimately change often, to reduce noise
- Test that a genuine change actually triggers an alert
- Document how to interpret and respond to an alert when one arrives
What is included
- A verified baseline and ongoing file integrity monitoring
- Alerts configured through your preferred channel
- Tested confirmation that a real change triggers a real alert
- A written note on how to respond when an alert fires
Not included
- Investigating or remediating a change once flagged — quoted separately based on what’s found
- A one-time vulnerability scan, a related but distinct fix
- Removing malware, if monitoring reveals an active compromise
- Guaranteeing zero false alerts, since legitimate updates also change files
Questions about this fix
What happens when I get an alert — do you automatically fix it?
No, an alert tells you something changed; what it means and what to do about it is a separate assessment, which we're glad to help with when it happens, but it isn't included automatically.
Will normal plugin and theme updates trigger constant false alerts?
Legitimate updates do change files, so some alerts around update time are expected and normal — we configure monitoring to distinguish routine update activity from unexpected changes where possible.
How would this have helped if my site was already hacked before I set it up?
It wouldn't retroactively — monitoring only tracks changes from the point the baseline is established, so it protects against future unexpected changes, not past ones.
Is this the same as a security plugin's built-in scanning?
Some security plugins include a version of this — we can configure what you have or recommend a dedicated option depending on what your current setup already covers.
How quickly will I actually find out about a genuine change?
That depends on how frequently the monitoring checks and how you've configured alerts — we set this up to notify you promptly rather than only during periodic scans.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.