How to Fix a Hacked Site

The first step for how to fix a hacked site is to call in the professionals. Yes, we are serious. There are many things in this world that you can handle on your own, and then there are things that you delegate to someone you trust.

That someone you trust needs to have experience providing solutions for website issues of all sizes, including fixing a hacked site. Why is that experience important?

Experience is important because cleaning up a hacked website is a daunting task if you are not sure what you are doing. Nevermind the added pressure of the possibility that an amateur could potentially break your website.

You also want be sure to address your hacked website as quickly as possible to keep your website from being blacklisted by Google which can happen in a matter of hours.

The first thing you want to do if your website gets hacked is to get us on the phone right away. We will quickly begin to fix your hacked website and get you back in business as soon a possible.

But, how do you keep from getting hacked in the first place?

Prevention.

The first step in website security is prevention. The rules of online security change by the hour, and you need help to stay up to day on the latest news and security-related best practices. It is our top priority to make sure that your website is protected, even amidst the ebb and flow of online security threats.

Even though the world of website security is always changing, there are some basics that are foundational.

Keep a backup of your website

You won’t need to worry about this one because our hosting platform automatically backs up your website daily. But if you want to be double-backed up, there are a number of free backup plugins for WordPress available.

If you do choose to go this route, tread carefully. Which brings us to our second point.

Only select trusted plugins and themes

You want to be sure that the files you are installing on your website are actually helping it function, not adding malicious code, right?

You can find trusted plugins under Recommended or Popular Plugins from within WordPress. If you’re not sure, WordPress provides a rating/review system that you can use to research new plugins.

Remove unused plugins & themes

The more plugins and themes you have installed, the more opportunities that a hacker can find a vulnerability in your website. Installing plugins to your website is like installing windows in a house.

If you are trying to protect your house from an attack, you know that every window in your house is a vulnerability point. Even if your plugin is disabled (or your window is closed), it is still a vulnerability in your house infrastructure.

Removing the plugin altogether is like removing the window or the vulnerability point.

Stay up to date

One of the most important things you can do to keep your website secure is to keep it up to date. As hackers find vulnerabilities in current versions of plugins and themes, the plugin or theme developers update their product to protect against the latest breach in security.

Since we know you want to stay protected with the latest installation of WordPress, we manually update each install of WordPress for you. But it is also important to keep an eye on plugin and theme updates and update as necessary.

Use Strong Passwords

We know. It’s easy to use the same password across the board. It is also easy to use words you will remember for your password. But you want to stay away from whole words and instead use a string of letters, numbers, and symbols.

You might have a system you can use to remember passwords, or you can use a password generator to create strong passwords for you. Whatever your method, keeping a strong password keeps your website that much more secure.

If you are having a difficult time remembering your strong passwords, you can use a password manager like LastPass

In summary

We know you are busy. We know you want your website to be secure. We also know that your website’s security probably is not at the top of your priority list. It’s our job to keep it that way.

As long as you are not worrying over how to fix a hacked site, we know we are doing our job in regard to your website’s security.

We are already taking care of many of the things on this list of ways to protect your website. Aren’t you glad you found someone you can trust to handle your website security?