Getting your website hacked is not an unfamiliar scenario. Businesses across the world face this problem as hackers find them an easy target to get their hands on the data and other sensitive information. Even though hacking and cybersecurity have been at the centre of attention for far too long, common mistakes by companies make it easy for hackers to hack their websites. By hacking your website, hackers could steal your customer data, add redirects, or even steal banking information of your clients.
There are certain parameters which indicate whether the website is hacked or not. These parameters are as follows:
- Defaced Website – This is the easiest way to tell if your website is hacked or not. If your website is hacked, instead of your website, a message saying, “hacked by ….” may appear or your website URL could be redirected to other websites.
- Google Notification – If your website is hacked and any malicious code is used for the same, Google may find the problem and notify through a Google bot about some uncommon activity on the website.
- No Access to Admin Page – On the opening of the admin pages of the website, if the access is denied, then there are high chances that the website is hacked. This could happen when a hacker gains access to your administrator account and disallows the website owner from accessing the website.
However, getting hacked is not the end of the world, and you still have many steps that you can take to salvage the situation.
- Change passwords – The foremost thing to do is change the password of the account. This can quickly deny access to the hacker and stop the hacker from further carrying out the attack. This would only be possible if the hacker has not changed the password and you are still able to log in. You will have to change the password of Primary FTP, secondary FTP, and all the apps. Make sure that the password is strong and involves letters, numbers, and alpha-numeric characters.
- Restore from Backup – It is always advisable to have a backup of the website and the database. If you feel that the website was hacked, you can restore the website and database from the backup which was not corrupted. If you do not have a backup, it is advisable that you create a backup after the issue is resolved.
- Remove the Hack – While not entirely possible to reliably remove the malware from the website, you can seek help from experts who can use programs to eliminate the malware. Such programs can be used to remove the malware from your compromised files.
- Contact Hosting Provider – If the website hacking issue is too complex to resolve, then it is better to contact the hosting provider. Depending on whether the website is on Cloud Hosting, Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, etc. the hosting provider will be able to analyse, detect, and solve the issue.
No one can be completely assured of the security of their website and be certain that their website will not be hacked. However, by following simple steps such as creating strong passwords, opting for good hosting solutions, updating your website programs regularly, you can reduce the chances of your website getting hacked.