Hackers are everywhere, whether you believe it or not; the internet today is not safe at all. With a well-oiled site such as WordPress getting hacked for more than 45% of the time, One can only imagine what will happen to his data!
Security is the first thing one asks for these days. It doesn’t matter whether offline or online, today people everywhere around the world demand protection to live and put it in lines with the necessities of life such as clean air, water and food.
Most of the business today owns a website and over 30% of the world users use WordPress for making their website. And due to its popularity; hackers and cybercrime thieves target WordPress sites only.
If you are a WordPress user; we advise you to go through the following points carefully.
Even better, follow this extensive WordPress Security Guide to be truly sure of your website’s security.
How do I know about my website being hacked?
You may not be able to know that your website is hacked. Many hackers don’t let you know for a long time. But thankfully, we have noted some of the following points which will help you identify if your site is being hacked or not.
1. Plugin Warning
![](https://geekybytes.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/sdmcsdk.png)
Security Plugins sends you a notification about your core files being compromised. And as soon as you receive this, we advise you to look into the matter immediately. Here you can learn more about plugin management.
2. Login is compromised
If you open your admin plane, and you can’t log into your ID, that means your website is hacked, and someone has changed the password and other settings.
3. Google Warning
If your site is hacked, Google marks your site as “not secure” or even blacklists the content of your website.
4. Traffic Spikes
![Sudden Increase in Traffic](https://geekybytes.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Sudden-Increase-in-Traffic-.png)
Don’t confuse the sudden increase in the number of views of your site as good marketing; hackers might be using your website as a hub for other hacks, thus the traffic. They use your website to send other people viruses and malware.
5. Can’t access your site
When you open your site it redirects you to another website. Or when you are trying to access your site some other links pop up on your screen. It is a clear indication of your site being compromised. You should immediately get a malware cleanup done on your website.
Step by Step staircase towards security:
The need to learn to fix hacks from your site has now become essential. Follow the following steps to have a healthy, virus-free website:
Step 1: Breath In, Breath Out
It is believed that often at the times of disasters if one keeps his anxiety under control, he can get through any of those difficulties. Getting Hacked by some hackers can have substantial consequences on your business and personal life. But we request you to keep your mind straight and relax and gather your strength to fight against this evil.
Step2: Maintenance Mode
![](https://geekybytes.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Maintenance-Mode-.png)
Never let your consumers or other people know that you were hacked. Always put your site on maintenance mode, and once you are ready, you can always go back online. Putting your website in maintenance mode will also not allow hackers to interfere while you fix the problem.
Step3: Malware removal services
If you don’t have the time and find these technical terms hard to understand, you can always get professional. Astra Security is a trusted security solution when it comes to website security.
Just sign up for the Pro (annual) plan for immediate malware cleanup. Fill up your credentials and security experts at Astra will get back with your hack-free website in no more than 6-8 hours.
Step4: Reset
Reset your password, since all the hackers start by cracking your password. So, we advise you to reset all your passwords.
Step5: Update PLugin and Themes
Go to Dashboard, then go to Updates and updates everything on your WordPress plugins and themes
Step6: Remove unwanted files
Many hackers may have uploaded some of the unwanted data to your site, check for all those files and remove them from your WordPress site.
Step7: SEO plugin
You need to clean your sitemap and submit it back to google. You can clean your sitemap.xml extension with the help of SEO plugins and don’t forget to update google about the same.
Step8: Reinstall
If none of the above methods works, you will need to reinstall WordPress itself. Once you reinstall the site; the compromise done to your core files will automatically be fixed.
Disclaimer: Create a backup before taking this step.
Step9: Clean your database
Cleaning all the old files will not only help you knock off the hackers but will also help in preventing your site from further hacks.
Future protection
Follow these few steps and save your website from all the hackers:
- Run a security scan once a week.
- Create a backup and dump all the old files.
- Only activate those Plugins and themes which you need one daily basis.
- Run updates on your core files of WordPress
- Activate log to keep track of all the changes down to your website.
We know security is hard to maintain especially in today’s fast-paced and busy world. No wonder it gets neglected often, but with proper measures, in place, one can save his website and protect the immense amount of data.