Here’s a complete guide on what to do if your website has been hacked
The world is home to billions of businesses and millions of websites. According to a New York Times article, there are two kinds of websites for companies in America. One is that the website has been hacked, and another is that they don’t know they have been hacked. We offer some tips to help you if your website has been hacked.
How do you know if your website is being hacked?
There are many ways to find out if your website has been hacked. Most often, an attacker will take down your website. Some freaky bad guys may also use the name “Hacked by _____” to gain fame.
The attacker will often hide every trace possible so that you don’t know if a website has been hacked. This allows the hacker to keep his evil activities on your Website going for a long period. These are the top signs that your website has been hacked.
- Google or Bing will ping you if the site is compromised.
- An unexpected surge in traffic to your website, especially from other countries
- Website defaced
- Your website redirects to unwelcome sites such as porn or pharmaceuticals
You must act immediately if you face any of the above-mentioned issues to protect your data. Cleaning up a hacked website is not an easy task. To clean it up, follow the four steps below:
1. 1. Inform your Support Team
It is better to call your support staff if you don’t have technical knowledge. This could be your web developer or hosting provider. They have the technical knowledge and are familiar with the configuration of your website.
Instead of web designers, you should hire programmers or web developers. Many web designers don’t have any technical knowledge and may not be able to access your hack site.
2. All the information you can for the Support Team
All information necessary to return your site should be available. The developer or support team will have access to-
- The Website Content Management System with administrative rights
- Access your database and weblogs via your hosting control panel.
- Both access logs and error logs are available. Some hosting companies do not provide weblog access.
- FTP access details include username, hostname, and password
- Backups for your website
Take your Website offline While the team accesses and fixes the Website, you need to close it down. Your hosting control panel might have the right to temporarily shut down your website. A password can be used to protect your main directory. This will prevent visitors from accessing your website while your team works on it.
3. Scan your Local Systems for Malware or Viruses
Hacking websites is one of the more difficult tasks that technical people have to complete. They can assist you by scanning your computer for viruses, Trojans, malware, and other threats. You should make sure that your anti-virus software is up to date so you can eliminate all old and new threats.
You may be curious about how the website is relaunched and what your support team does. We are going to give you a brief glimpse into the process.
- Hardware and software
- Make a backup of your site, and then download it for inspection
- To find out the details such as how and when it was attacked, you can examine the data.
- To prevent vulnerability, check the software extensions on the site.
- Cyber SecurityThey review customer software codes (if any) to identify common security flaws
- Final step: Clean the website and place it back online
It is important to check every flaw in a website before you clean it up. There are many cases where the hacker has hacked the same website multiple times until all the necessary fixes have been made.
Conclusion
Your brand reputation, brand image, and customer data could all be affected by a website hack. You should call your support team immediately. When they arrive, make sure you have everything they need for the cleanup.
Watch is one of the many companies that can help you secure your website. It is one of the most sought-after companies that you can hire to do these types of jobs. We hope you learned what to Do if your website is hacked.