Cybersecurity is more important than ever these days. We’ve recently written an article on ways to prevent cyberattacks, but what about what to do if your website has already been hacked?
If your website is hacked, swift action is essential to protect your data, your users, and your business reputation. It can be a very stressful and worrying situation, but you’re not alone, and responding in the correct way can help to minimise disruption and damage.
This is what to do if your website is hacked…
Are You Sure Your Website Has Been Hacked? Common Signs to Look For
It may not be immediately apparent that your website has been hacked, although some signs may be more obvious than others. Some common signs to look out for could include:
- Your website is defaced, altered or goes offline.
- There are sudden drops in traffic or SEO rankings.
- Spammy links or pop-ups appear.
- You receive warnings from Google Search Console (if you are linked to it).
- Web browsers show a warning when you visit the website.
- Suspicious user activity or unauthorised logins.
If your website takes a sudden dive in traffic or you experience other suspicious issues, there may be other causes. You should never ignore unexpected behaviour though as a compromised website can be very damaging.
First Steps to Take Immediately
If you suspect that your website has been hacked, it’s important not to panic. You should act quickly, but you should also act methodically in order to minimise the damage.
The very first thing you should do is to take the site offline. Or at the very least, put it into maintenance mode. This will prevent any further damage while you evaluate the attack and work through the next steps.
It is usually a good idea to inform your hosting provider, as they may be able to help contain the breach. You should also change all passwords related to your website as quickly as possible. This includes passwords for your Content Management System (CMS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP) accounts, hosting accounts, and email accounts. This may be enough to break a hacker’s hold, but should always be a part of the recovery process anyway, with strong, unique passwords for every account.
Identify the Type and Extent of the Hack
With your website offline, you can now attempt to identify the type of hack and the extent of the damage. There are numerous types of attacks that hackers and malicious actors can use against a website, such as malware injection, phishing, brute force attack and defacement.
You can use security plugins, scanners, or tools like Wordfence to help assess the attack and any damage. Site analytics tools may also indicate attempted access from unusual locations, and you can verify whether your database appears to be compromised.
One way to assess the attack is to retrace your actions, as many hacking attempts occur when changes are made to the system, creating new vulnerabilities to exploit. If you can narrow down the timeframe, you can inspect access or error logs for that specific period. Your web hosts may also be able to provide you with access to web logs to provide more potential information on the attack and its effects.
Clean and Restore the Website
Now you can set about cleaning and restoring your website. You might also want to take a moment to scan your computer hardware for viruses, keyloggers or malware. Some hacks take place via an infected device so you will also want to make sure your own computers are clean.
When it comes to cleaning up your website, one of the easiest ways is to restore your website from a clean backup. This assumes that you have such a backup and can trace the hack so that you know the backup is definitely from before your website was affected.
If not, you can also go through your website to remove all malicious code or files. This can involve steps such as scanning for suspicious or unknown files, checking for unauthorised admin users and looking for potentially malicious code in the database. If you are not confident in this, it might be best to get professional help and advice.
You should also update all software including your CMS, themes and plugins. Outdated software can provide vulnerabilities that allow hackers an entry point into the system. Moving forward, regular or automatic updates should be part of your regular security and maintenance schedule.
Notify Affected Parties
Notifying customers, clients, partners and other users of your website might seem like a daunting task but it is essential that you do so if there is a chance their data may have been compromised. Trust can be damaged more if users find out about a breach and feel you were not upfront about it and there may also be legal obligations under legislations like the UK and EU’s GDPR.
Be transparent but professional to maintain trust and provide clear information and advice on updating passwords or accounts.
Strengthen Your Website Security Going Forward
Prevention is always better than cure and, while there is no single step that can guarantee your website will never be hacked, good security protocols and habits can certainly minimise the risks.
You can take a number of steps including:
- Install a firewall and real-time monitoring tools
- Enforce strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA)
- Keep all platforms and plugins up to date
- Make regular backups and perform security audits
Why Professional Help Makes a Difference
Wit so many user-friendly website building and hosting options available, it has become relatively easy for small businesses, e-commerce traders and others to design and run their own websites. Businesses and individuals without in-depth knowledge can unknowingly leave vulnerabilities behind, however.
Whether you’re designing a website from scratch or repairing and rebuilding after a cyber-attack, professionals can ensure a clean, secure website that is more resistant to hacking attempts and other types of attack.
Preventive strategies built into the website and safe practices for running and maintaining it can save time, money, and reputation in the future.
Need Help Preventing a Website Hack?
If you need help recovering from a hacked website or want to build in the security needed to prevent hacks in the future, get in touch us today. Our experts can help you improve your online visibility with SEO-friendly websites. We also have an in-house development team that can provide the security you need – so call us on 0151 652 4777 today.
Posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2025 in Latest News.
