iLearn Website Support & Security Hardening

Project Overview

The iLearn corporate WordPress website suffered from critical performance degradation and multiple security threats.
This engagement focused on immediate site recovery, malware defense, and long-term stabilization through comprehensive server, plugin, and firewall optimization.

The system required advanced troubleshooting across caching, DNS, and plugin layers — while ensuring uptime continuity during multiple migration and cleanup attempts.

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Platform & Stack

• Platform: WordPress
• Security Tools: Wordfence Premium, Cloudflare Firewall
• Caching & Performance: Varnish Cache, Object Cache Pro
• Environment: PHP 8.1, MySQL, Nginx/Apache hybrid stack
• Hosting: Migrated to upgraded CPU-based server
• Additional Tools: WP-CLI, File Integrity Checker, Cloudflare Analytics

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Core Tasks & Features

• Comprehensive security audit and deprecated plugin removal
• Wordfence Premium deployment with malware cleanup and IP blocking
• Fresh WordPress core installation and controlled plugin reinstallation
• Cloudflare firewall and DNS optimization setup
• Integration of Object Cache Pro and Varnish Cache for improved TTFB
• Database cleanup (transients, overhead, autoload optimization)
• Server PHP 8.1 tuning and configuration refinement
• HTML/CSS/JS minification and asset compression
• Setup of staging → production testing environment
• Full hosting migration and successful multi-pass image file transfer

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Security & Optimization Highlights

Area	Action	Outcome
Malware & Firewall	Deployed Wordfence Premium + manual malware removal	100% clean security report
Server Performance	Migrated to upgraded CPU with optimized PHP & MySQL	60% faster page loads
Caching	Integrated Object Cache Pro & Varnish	Reduced server requests by ~45%
CDN & Firewall	Configured Cloudflare DNS, WAF & caching	Global threat mitigation
Database Optimization	Purged transients & optimized autoloads	Reduced DB size & query times
Deployment	Established staging → production workflow	Safer plugin and theme updates

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Hosting & Deployment Process

The previous hosting environment suffered from restricted CPU threads, causing failed scans and delayed responses.
After testing multiple environments, a new optimized VPS was deployed with enhanced resources and caching layers.

The migration involved five incremental transfer attempts to ensure file integrity and uninterrupted uptime.
Post-migration, all security scans completed successfully, and the site’s core web vitals improved significantly.

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Outcome

“Anton’s recovery and optimization work brought our site back from the brink. Everything runs faster, cleaner, and more secure than before.”
— iLearn Management Team

Key Results

• Full website restoration within 48 hours
• Malware threats neutralized
• Stable hosting and improved performance metrics
• Ongoing protection with Cloudflare + Wordfence integration
• Sustainable architecture ready for future scaling

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Legacy Context

This project demonstrates Anton’s hands-on capability to rescue and secure large-scale WordPress platforms under active threat, combining advanced server knowledge with methodical incident response.
The same systematic approach is now applied across Villiers Vision Works’ WordPress optimization and cybersecurity offerings, ensuring client platforms remain fast, secure, and resilient.