What to do when your website is hacked: a step-by-step guide

As a website owner you might have experienced hacking attempts and if not you must have thought of what is the right thing to do when  something like this happens.Wether you own  a small or a large business you are vulnerable to website hacking attacks. According to cyber attack statistics, worldwide, 30,000 websites are hacked daily. As a website owner, it’s essential to stay prepared for such situations to ensure the safety and security of your customer’s data, your website’s reputation, and your business. So, what to do when your website is hacked? This blog post will explore the step-by-step guide to dealing with such a situation.

Identify the hacking signs.

The first step is to identify whether your website has been hacked. Some noticeable signs include the following:

• Your site has been redirected to a different website or page.
• Your website’s content has been altered.
• Google has flagged your website as being hacked.
• You can’t access your website’s login page.

Immediately stop the attack and back up your website.

Your website’s security must be your top priority, so shutting down the hack as soon as possible is critical. Some things you can do are:

• Change your website’s passwords as soon as possible.
• If you’re on a shared hosting account, contact your hosting company to inform them that your site has been hacked and ask them to take necessary steps to stop the attack.
• Disconnect your website from the internet once you’ve stopped the attack; now back up your website. This is crucial because if something goes wrong while trying to restore your website to its previous state, the backup will ensure it is restored to its previous state. According to a Cloudberry lab survey, 49% of users don’t back up their websites and face many problems.

Investigate the attack and clean the malware detected.

The next step after backing up your site is to investigate the attack. This will help you identify your website’s type of attack and vulnerability, enabling you to take appropriate measures to prevent it from happening again. Here’s what you can do:

• Check your website’s code to identify any malicious files or code.
• Install a malware scanner tool, which can help you to identify any malware installed on your website.

Once you’ve identified the malicious code or files, clean your website. You can remove the infected files manually or use automated tools like anti-malware software to clean your website.

Update the website

After cleaning the malware and removing infected files, update your website’s software, plugins, and themes. The updated version usually contains security patches to address known vulnerabilities, making it harder for hackers to compromise your website.

Request a Malware Review

Finally, once the cleanup and updates are done, request a malware review from a search engine like Google. If your website is clean, it will be removed from the blocked websites, and your customers will see the website up and running again.

In conclusion, website hacking is prevalent in today’s digital age. However, you can restore your website’s security and integrity with the right approach and steps. Therefore, follow these steps to ensure the safety and security of your website, customer data, and business.