5 Steps to Take if Your Website is Hacked

According to hostingfacts.com, more than 90,000 websites are hacked every day. Here’s what you should do if your business’s website comes under attack.

TELL YOUR WEB OR HOSTING TEAM

If something looks out of place or incorrect on your website, tell someone ASAP. Start with your web development team, or reach out to your hosting provider if you manage your website internally. They will be able to resolve the issue, or temporarily take your website offline until the situation is resolved. If you have backups in place, you may be able to restore your site to a safe environment if you catch it soon enough.

HAVE YOUR PASSWORDS READY

To help speed things along, you will want to have all passwords associated with your website readily available. Make sure you have the following information somewhere safe, yet easily accessible:

- domain login information
- hosting login information
- Content Management System (CMS) login information
- backup information

CHANGE PASSWORDS

If your website has been compromised, the hackers likely have access to the passwords associated with your website. Make it harder on them by changing this information in the event of an attack.

FIND THE VULNERABILITY

There are many ways a hacker can gain access to your site, and you might be vulnerable from a variety of areas. Some of the most common ways hackers access sites are:

WEAK PASSWORDS: do not use common phrases like: “sheetmetal” or “mycompanyname-web”

OUTDATED CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS): Not all content management systems are created equal. Make sure your CMS is up-to-date and you are educated on a system that best fits your needs. Although very common and easy to use, 83% of hacked websites use WordPress.

SHARED HOSTING ENVIRONMENT: Using a shared hosting environment like GoDaddy can be risky for your website. If your website is hosted on a server with multiple sites, it increases the likelihood that one of the sites is vulnerable, especially if the sites weren’t built by a professional.

MONITOR

Once you find, fix and clean the vulnerabilities on your site, protect your investment! Once your website is back online, check to make sure Google doesn’t have you blacklisted, which can happen if your website has been hacked for a considerable amount of time. Being blacklisted means you are essentially invisible in any search results. So, if someone is searching for a “reliable HVAC maintenance company” through Google and you are not showing up, check to see if your website is blacklisted through free online tools like: ismywebsitepenalized.com.

In today’s digital landscape, there is no such thing as a totally secure website. However, taking the necessary precautions will decrease your vulnerability and help you stay up and running.