Did you know – websites with compromised security are more vulnerable to cyberattacks? You might think your website has nothing worth being hacked for. However, the purpose of website hacking is not to steal the data but attempt to use your server to send phishing emails or even set up a duplicate server. 

Hackers illegally access your website to steal personal information, identity, financial data, etc – which they use to commit crimes. Most of the hacking attacks are automated, where the bots search for vulnerabilities or security weaknesses to exploit. 

Cyberattacks are often made on the website via – security weaknesses, themes, plugins, and insecure web hosting and login credentials. 

Hackers hack the sites to gain user data, distribute malware, send spam emails and even redirect website visitors to malicious sites. 

Such security breaches can negatively impact the website, causing legal violations and financial loss. Hence, it is crucial to protect the website against hacking.

In this post, you will learn about ways to protect your website and things to do if the website is hacked. 

Let’s get started!

Tips to protect your website from hackers

Website owners often think that they don’t have to worry about the security of their website. However, it is crucial to take some protective measures to keep hackers at the bay and prevent hacking attempts on your website. Follow the below tips to protect your website – 

1. Firewall 

Install a good firewall that stops hackers from entering the website. Hackers don’t manually attack the website but create bots that automatically attack vulnerable sites. Firewalls can identify malicious requests and blocks them before being processed. 

2. Password 

Have a strong password that has a combination of letters, characters, numbers, and symbols. You can also use plugins to create passwords that are difficult to crack.

3. SSL Certificate 

Make sure the website is encrypted with SSL. Even if the hacker attempts to intercept the data – he/she will not be able to understand it. 

4. Backup

Take regular backups of your website so that you can quickly restore the website in the event of an attack. You can choose a reliable plugin that automatically backups the website at scheduled intervals. 

5. Implement 2FA

2FA or two-factor authentication adds a layer of security by adding another device or OTP to access along with the password. There are several paid and free apps that help you enable two-factor authentication.

6. Site audit

Conduct regular site audits to check unidentified hacking attempts and uncover unsafe practices. You can keep an eye on the happenings of your website by reviewing the users periodically and maintaining an activity log. 

You can stop a hacker by taking proactive measures to improve security. Despite taking proactive measures, your website can be hacked. Keep reading to know about the steps to do if the website is hacked. 

Things to do if the website is hacked

The first thing to do is to analyze your website to find soft spots and eliminate them as soon as possible. You should remember that as soon as the hackers get access to your website, they will try to change the code or implant a malicious program that corrupts the website. Here are a few things to do if your website is hacked – 

• Scan with antivirus 

Virus and malware is a huge threat to websites. The Best Antivirus Software for PC helps you scan the website for suspicious malicious code and alert you. If you are already using an anti-malware plugin, you should review the history to find out when the website was infected. 

Run a complete virus scan to discover the infected files. Once you have identified the infected files, you can find the code snippet by going through the source code. 

You should also scan the computer and external storage devices associated with the website using a trusted antivirus program. If there is a virus on your computer, it can re-attack the website.  Therefore, it is crucial to get rid of the virus completely. 

• Change the password

Change the password on the website that is being hacked. Make sure the new password is secure and strong enough to protect your website from a new attack.  If you use the same password on all the accounts, you need to change all the passwords. 

Use a Password Manager to create unique passwords for all the accounts without having to remember them and access them using a master password. The only password you need to remember is the password of the Password manager, which should again be stronger and unique.

• Delete sensitive information

If the hacked website has sensitive information, you need to delete it. If your website is hacked, it doesn’t mean that they have crawled the entire website. They may not have yet copied the sensitive information. 

If you are storing important information on the cloud, you need to clear out the folder immediately or transfer them to a different location. 

• File assessment

For a detailed investigation, you need to assess the file system damage. From stealing the data to sending phishing emails or modifying the pages, the hacker could have done several things. 

Check if the files are modified by comparing them with a good backup of your website. Also, go through the error logs, command history, unknown user account creation, failed login attempts, file permissions, and other suspicious activity. 

• Restore the website

One of the best and easiest ways to repair the hacked website is to restore the last clean backup. You should delete the current website completely and re-install with a clean version of the website. 

Remember that the submitted content such as – purchase orders, registration forms, testimonials, etc will be deleted – when you restore the website. 

Wrapping Up!

There are a lot of things to do when your website gets hacked. The above-mentioned tips to protect your website from hackers can help you secure your accounts, making it harder for hackers to access the website.  

We hope this article will help you protect your website from hackers as well as take the necessary steps if the website is hacked. Preventive measures will also help you protect your website from hackers. 

Enhance the security of your website using the right software today!