6 Signs Your Website Is Hacked – And What To Do
A little knowledge and a bit of time can go a long way in recovering a hacked website, and there are ways to make sure it's well-protected in the future. Unfortunately, a hacked website is far from unusual - according to research from Astra, around 30,000 websites around the world are hacked every day.
The consequences for website owners can be devastating. Data may be accessed, there may be damage to your reputation, and you may be hit with a ransomware demand. But with quite a lot of work, it's usually possible to take back control and protect your site better in future: we look at what you should do.
How To Tell If Your Website Is Hacked
There are several signs that your website has been hacked. In some cases, you may be alerted by browsers, your web host or visitors to the site. You may experience slow performance, or see changes to the site that you didn't make, such as unexpected ads or new pages.
You may even discover that a new admin account or FTP user has been added without your knowledge. Traffic to the site may drop sharply, and emails that you send may go straight to the recipient's junk mail folder.
Signs of a Hack
- Slow performance or freezing/crashing of the website
- Changes to the site's code or layout without your knowledge
- Unexpected ads or pop-ups on the site
- New admin accounts or FTP users added without your knowledge
- Dropped traffic or emails sent to junk mail folders
What To Do If Your Website Is Hacked
If you suspect that your website has been hacked, here are the steps you can take:
Step 1: Contact Your Hosting Provider
Your hosting provider needs to know what's happened - and could be a big help when it comes to cleaning up the site and providing advice, as well as in getting your site removed from any blacklists.
Step 2: Get Rid Of Malicious Code And Backdoors
Give your website a thorough scan to uncover malware and backdoors, and remove any suspicious files or code injections. This can sometimes be straightforward - perhaps just a single dodgy plugin - but more usually will require a fair level of technical knowledge.
Step 3: Restore From A Clean Backup
If you've been backing up your website regularly, hopefully you have a clean backup to restore from. Otherwise, things may be much more difficult, and it's possible that you may not be able to recover your site at all.
How To Protect Your Website From Hackers?
There are several basic best practices you can employ to keep your website safe from being hacked:
- Carry out regular security audits and use monitoring and detection tools on a regular basis
- Restrict access to only those people that need it, and use strong passwords and two-factor authentication
- Keep all your software up to date, so that it gets the latest security patches
- Back up your site regularly, so that if the worst does happen you can get things back up and running quickly
- Make sure your team is on board with basic cybersecurity practices, and that they look out for anything suspicious
Can A Hacked Website Be Recovered?
A hacked website can usually be recovered by scanning for any malware and removing it, changing passwords and restoring it from a backup made before the hack. However, if you don't have a backup or if the hack is particularly sophisticated, things may be much more difficult, and it's possible that you may not be able to recover your site at all.
How To Tell If Your Computer Is Hacked?
Slow performance, freezing or crashing are all subtle signs that your computer may have been hacked. Other symptoms include the appearance of programs that you didn't install yourself or changes to your browser home page. Unexpected pop-ups may appear, along with emails you didn't send or receive; your password may change without your knowledge, with unauthorized logins or new accounts.