What To Do If Your Website Gets Hacked in 8 Steps

No one is safe from hackers. Even large, well-known websites can fall victim to cyberattacks. So what do you do if your website gets hacked? Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all answer to that question except for having quick response times in such event. Every hacked website is different, and each requires a unique approach to remediation and prevention. But in general, there are some basic steps you can take to mitigate the damage and protect your site from future attacks. And, we will give you the 8 steps on how to handle a website hack.

Every website owner should understand the basics of web security whether or not they've ever been victims of an attack themselves. You can learn how to Improve Your Website Security in 11 Steps. It is important because it only takes one mistake by inexperienced user for hackers to strike. Make sure everyone who works with your website have cybersecurity awareness to understand the potential risks or signs of a hack if there is any attempt.

1 - Make your website offline

Once you realize your website has been hacked, the first thing you need to do is take it offline. This will help prevent any further damage and give you time to assess the situation and figure out what needs to be done.

2 - Restore your website

If your website gets hacked, the first thing you should do is restore it from a backup. This will ensure that all of your website's data is recovered and that your website is back up and running as quickly as possible. However, if you don't have a backup, or if the hacker has deleted all of your files, then you'll need to take additional steps to recover your website. If you don't have a backup of your website, you can restore it from a previous version. This can be done using a tool like cPanel or an FTP client. You can also try restoring your website from a backup that was made before the hack occurred. If you're not sure how to do this, contact your website hosting company for assistance.

3 - Check for malware and remove them if there is any

Hackers could have installed a backdoor on your website so they can continue accessing it from the outside even after you've taken it offline. So it is important to check for evidence of malware on your computer and remove any malicious programs found in order to prevent future attacks from occurring on your website or on other websites where the malware might have spread.

4 - Change all passwords

If you have a website that got hacked, there is a strong chance that the passwords associated with it also got compromised. To prevent hackers from taking further malicious actions using those credentials, change all of your passwords as well as any other accounts that use similar passwords for additional security. Use strong passphrases instead of simple words so hackers can't guess them easily by running through common word lists. Additionally, don't forget to use 2FA where you can. This means longer phrases but more difficult for cybercriminals to crack.

5 - Run an antivirus scan

This will help protect your website against future attacks and safeguard your data. There are dozens of antiviruses in the market, you can choose the one that fits you and run an antivirus scan on all computers used by people who work on the site or are responsible for managing its content.

6 - Backup all the data on your website

After you have removed the malicious things from your website, it is important to make sure that you have a backup of all of your website data. This will help ensure that if your website gets hacked again, you will still have all of your information safe and sound. You can then simply re-upload your website files and restore the website from how it was prior to being hacked.

7 - Make sure your software is up-to-date

In most cases, your website has probably been compromised because of a vulnerability in your code or one of your plugins. Using outdated vulnerable and outdated components is, in fact, holds the 6th position of OWASP Top10:2021 Vulnerabilities. So, the next step is to clean your website and update any outdated software. Make sure you have the latest versions of all your software, including your website's content management system (CMS), plugins, and themes. If you're not sure how to update your website or if you're using a hosted solution, contact your hosting company or CMS provider for help.

8 - Know your vulnerabilities before hackers - IT IS POSSIBLE.

If your website gets hacked, it can be very difficult to clean up the mess and get your site back up and running. The most convenience way, of course, is never to be a victim of a hack. You can do that by finding any vulnerabilities on your website before they can be exploited by hackers. It is possible via scanning your website using website vulnerability scanner tools.

It is recommended to scan for vulnerabilities as frequently as possible, because there are new vulnerabilities found on the internet every second. So, you need to catch up with them by scanning your website on a regular basis in order to not being a victim of a hack. Best way to do that would be automating this using automated vulnerability scanning tools so it would be done for you and you wouldn't have to worry about it. You can read more about Importance of Automated Vulnerability Scanning in detail from our blog. you can do it yourself using free vulnerability scanner tools on a daily/weekly basis.

If you're not sure where to look for an automated website vulnerability scanner, we've got a great one that also helps you increase your awareness of cybersecurity. Try it out for free today!

And if you think you need a broaden help from experts, you can contact us to request a penetration test.