File change Warning mail

  • Can anyone explain what this report is for?

    Yes, I know it will mail me a report when I upgrade anything and yes, I know it will report on anything the hostco uses too.

    However, this is different. Several times on several sites I’ve had a MASSIVE email, which has taken a minute or so to open.

    Most recent, 8011 files changed, Why?

    I have NOT updated anything, the hostco admits to nothing.

    A general breakdown of the file list is wp-admin/js/ xxxxxx 500 odd files

    wp-includes/js 1000 odd lines

    All the rest seem to be wp-content files.

    Each of the entries reports a modified date and hash against it, the dates range from june 2018, to march this year 2020.

    if anyone can say why this is being reported I would appreciate it.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • I would recommend to have a look at the File Change Detection history on the iTSec plugin Logs page. Has it been running consistantly ?

    One explanation could be that for some reason the plugin stopped scanning a while ago without anyone noticing. So a couple of WordPress updates further down the line for some reason the plugin started scanning again. So it’s possibly kind of a lagged scan result…

    To prevent any confusion, I’m not iThemes.

    Hi,

    The suggestion above could certainly be the cause of a huge file change detection and you should look through the logs to see the last time the logs ran. If the changes made are from an update there is no cause for concern.

    Each file that changes at all is logged. For my own sites, I scan the list and look for anything out of place; I expect changes in backups, caching, updated plugins, etc.

    If I see a change for something that I personally didn’t update or have set to run automatically, that’s when I look at the file and start tracking down issues.

    If your malware scan is coming up clear, that is another good indication that the changes you are seeing are part of the routine backgrounds in a WordPress site

    You can exclude files and directories in the File Change Detection settings on the Settings page. The general rule is it’s okay to exclude ones that you know are going to be regularly updating. Backup and cache files are a perfect example of this. Doing so will calm a lot of the extra noise.

    The plugin will only inform you of changes made (if modules are enabled) but it does not have the capability to inform you of any issues in regards to those changes.

    Thread Starter robmcp

    (@robmcp)

    Thanks both (So Far)
    I will check the logs. We’ve had several of these lately on different sites, so it stuck out like a sore thumb.
    Generally they come in lien with plug in updates or WP/Themes but they are usually 30 files or so, not this lump!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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