Did Your Website Get Hacked? Here is how to repair a hacked website:
Setting up a website today is a good thing. You can establish a business, affiliate page, or any type of site you can dream up. There was a time when you didn’t have to worry about getting hacked. But today, it happens a lot. There are a lot of nefarious characters out there, and they want to take down sites.
Hackers are looking for low hanging fruit. They target websites that are not updated often. Pages that do not get updated, or have lackluster code will be hacked. Your site may not be secure. Setting up a website today requires more than ever. Make certain that you take your time setting things up properly. Your site may be vulnerable if you just set it, and forget it. That is not a good thing.
How Do You Know Your Website Is Hacked?
The first thing that you need to understand about your website is that it’s not going to be hacked and imploded. A lot of hackers don’t care about private websites for ransom, as much as they want to claim that they’ve been able to take a site down, and involve a few lines of code, and a digital tag.
Imagine your site like a wall, and the hackers like graffiti artists. That’s essentially what they are doing with your site, they are changing it and defacing it with their digital graffiti. Your website may redirect to the hacker’s page, or it may simply say that your site has been compromised and stolen by some random hacker. It’s rare to see anything more complex than that.
You can also use Google’s Safe Browsing tool to see if a site is marked as compromised.
How Do Hackers Get Into Your Website?
The first thing that you should know is that your password may be guessed, weak, or there’s a software vulnerability in your site. You may not know that your site is vulnerable at first glance, but you should know that there are issues that your website will have outright.
The first thing that you need to know is simple, you need a strong password, you need to update all of your software, and you need to change things up from time to time. Hackers often use brute force attacks on passwords and vulnerable pages that are outdated, which is why many people’s websites are hacked.
Tips for a good password:
- Use upper case and lower case letters
- use at least one number in your password
- use at least one character in your password
You can also use a Password Generator for a quick new password.
What To Do If You’re Hacked?
The first thing that you need to do is simple, stay calm and don’t panic. Once you see that your page is down, call your web host and tell them that your site has been hacked. Then look at your files, and change the index page.
Most often, hackers just take over the index page and nothing else. Your files may still be in place, and you just need to update a backup. Your website may be backed up as well, in which case, you’ll want to revert to a saved option.
Again, it is important not to panic. Do not do anything with haste. Take your time to assess the situation, and see what has occurred. Be patient and look for backups. Also, call your web host.
Take Down Your Website
You may need to take your site down. This is not forever. Take it down, and use backed up files. Upload your files that are backed up. Also, turn your site back on. Test the pages. Click on several areas, and make sure that things are working appropriately. Make certain to call your web host as well. Your web host should know about vulnerabilities on your site. They can even help restore your site from their end.
Protecting Your Website Moving Forward
Once you’ve been hacked, you are going to need to clean things up and protect yourself from future problems. To do this, you’ll want to do the following:
Change all website passwords.
Upgrade all databases.
Update your content management system (WordPress etc.)
Replace Your Site With A Recent Backup.
These are some of the critical elements that you need to work with. Focus on updating your page often. Also, work on the back end code and software to ensure compatibility moving forward. This will ensure you are locking down your website properly.
Your Website Requires Monitoring
At the end of the day, your website will need to be monitored. You can do this by visiting your page and scrolling through the pages every few days. Also, back things up, and update your software, databases, and more. This will help your page stay secured. Securing your page requires a little work. It is important to monitor your page, keep backups, and ensure you are calming vulnerabilities. Visit your page often. Follow the tips above. Do not ignore your website. It is easy to forget about your site. Do not just assume your page is not a target. Visit your page daily. Look at how it loads. Focus on the code,. Update the back end, and keep focused on the right code structures.Utilize the tips above. They will garner success in protecting your page, and help you avoid getting caught up by hackers today.
