WordPress site owners must deal with many difficult scenarios, but getting hacked is one of the worst things that may happen. A hack can seriously affect a site owner’s reputation, business, traffic, search rankings, and many more factors. In this guide, readers can learn how to tell when a WordPress site has been hacked and how to recover from such an intrusion.
Spotting a Hacked Website
Site hacking isn’t specific to WordPress-based sites, and no platform is 100% secure. Just like auto theft is a risk that all car owners take, all website owners are vulnerable to hacking attempts. There are steps site owners can take to prevent intrusions, but the process starts by looking for the following signs of a hacked WordPress website.
- Warnings from security plugins: If a site uses one of any of the available security plugins, the owner will likely get an email when the site has been compromised. As far as hack attempts go, this is the best-case scenario as it allows owners and site repair services to react right away.
- Inability to log into the admin panel: A common security breach occurs when a site’s login information is stolen. In such cases, the intruders may hijack the admin account, and the owner will have to take certain steps to get back in.
- Problematic security scans: In some cases, infections aren’t easily detected. For these reasons, the site owner should run an occasional malware scan. Our service can clean up spam that’s indexed by search engines, and we can take care of virus-injected sites as well.
While this list is not comprehensive, it does cover some good ways for site owners to determine whether or not they’ve been hacked. In the next sections, owners can learn what to do if they find problems.
Steps to Take After a WordPress Site is Hacked
Here, site owners can get some general advice on dealing with hack attempts and successful breaches. These tips include:
- Back up what’s left. While some may think it doesn’t make sense to back up a hacked website, it’s important to consider that sites contain much more than system files that have been compromised. Some hosts automatically delete hacked sites. Images and media are hard to regain once they’re wiped out, and our service can help site owners make copies before rebuilding the site.
- Scan local machines. In some cases, hack attempts start on the site owner’s computer. If a system is compromised, it’s possible for hackers to gain entry into frequently-accessed websites via keyloggers and other tools. For these reasons, site owners should run full virus and malware scans on their machines and perform regular OS updates. This way, the owner ensures that the problem didn’t start with them, and they reduce the chances of a reinfection after the site has been cleaned.
- Hire the experts. WordPress site security is a very serious matter. If a site owner isn’t willing or able to deal with servers, code, and other tech stuff, they can benefit from our WordPress site cleaning services. Hackers sometimes hide things in multiple locations to make it easier to regain entry after cleanup. For this reason, paying a professional to clean and repair the site is a time-saving, efficient option.
Call Today for More Details
Having a WordPress website hacked isn’t a pleasurable experience, but it happens to even the most careful site owners. If a site is hacked, we can help the owner figure out how it happened and we can also help them prevent future attacks. When a website is part of a person’s livelihood, professional WordPress site cleanup services are a logical, sensible investment. Call today for more details on our various site maintenance and repair packages.