If you are in doubt about the chances of your site getting compromised, the recent release of Google’s webmaster help for hacked sites should be a good indicator on just how widespread this problem is. If you have a website, be advised that it does not matter if it is big or small, your site stands an equal chance of being compromised. Perhaps, the more popular ones are more prone to attacks, but then again, those popular sites are likely to have increased “defenses” and proper “recovery plans” in place, in case something happens. How about your site?
Google knows that this is not a small risk to site owners and in lieu of the ever increasing threats out there, has created a whole new section on how to tackle matters if your site has sadly been compromised. While this is great, I just wanted to let you know that before that, there are several things that you can do to avoid having to go to Google’s Hacked sites help section.
Start by reading these articles on how to increase your websites security, specially in you are on WordPress…
- WordPress Security Plugins, Protect Your Online Business
- WordPress Security For Blogs and Small Business, Why care?
- Create A Strong And Unique Password (oldie but still works)
- Password Management Guide (downloadable for free)
The articles (and guides) above, if you have read and implemented some of the suggestions, will not guarantee 100% security. Nonetheless, it will help to increase your websites security and prevent as much as possible attempts to hack your site.
Now, in the likelihood that those suggestion have failed to avoid your site from being compromised, this is where you may want to head over Google’s Hacked site help section for further information on how to deal with the problem.
Overview: Help for hacked sites
In this video, Maile Ohye (Google’s developer programs tech lead) discusses how and why sites are hacked, and review your options for recovery.
As you can see, there are many ways that an attacker can gain access to your site. WordPress users should always be careful when choosing plugins and free themes, as some can contain malicious coding and open possibilities for an unfriendly visit.
Read: Free WordPress Themes, Shocking Facts You Need To Know
Following the discovery that your site has been compromised, follow through the next steps, as provided on Google’s help for hacked sites.
1 | Watch the overview (completed – you just watched it, right) | Beginner |
2 | Contact your hoster and build a support team | Beginner |
3 | Quarantine your site | Intermediate |
4 | Touch base with Webmaster Tools | Intermediate |
5 | Assess the damage (hacked with spam) or Assess the damage (hacked with malware) |
Advanced |
6 | Identify the vulnerability | Advanced |
7 | Clean and maintain your site | Advanced |
8 | Request a review | Intermediate |
That’s it! I sincerely do not wish for anyone to have to go through using Google’s webmaster help for hacked sites. However, if the unwanted happens, at least you have more information on how to deal with it.
BTW, I found this video that is quite interesting. Dr. Loveland and her special guest Eve Hacker takes you on a precautionary journey regarding computer security, with a talk entitled “How to Hack a Web Site”. Maybe knowing a bit more about what motivates people from doing what they do and how they accomplish it, can help you further understand how to protect your site.
Juan
so far, my blog never got hacked. But i experience for malicious attack and that make me to be more careful after that
Same happening with my sites too, But i’ve installed manually customized plugins to stop these kind of attacks and also backup my sites on daily basis.
I agree Sarah, having a back up is ideal in case something went up. I’m glad that webmaster extends their help for the compromised site, it’s very helpful. Gladly, I haven’t experience being hacked or infected by a malware. Surely, we need keep our sites guarded all the .
Joe Hart
I manage a lot of sites for my clients and recently one of the sites got hacked..It was unexpected..Thankfully the data had been backed..I manage to change the password and restore the site..I’ve learned from this experience..It is better to tighten security than being sorry at a later stage.
Pankaj
Hacking is really big concern for all website and blog owners. More popular sites are more likely to get hacked, so it’s really essential to take all precautionary steps to ensure complete security. I think that’s the right initiative taken by Google to help website owners to recover their hacked sites.
Shearwater Research
Great news! Hacking is really big concern for all website and blog owners. I believe that many people will definitely be glad to hear about this. Thank you for this information. And I’m looking forward to read more of your updates. At least, I’m feeling more secured now in the internet world.
The announcement begins with an overview video that describes how and why sites are hacked, followed by a video that describes how to assess what has been changed on your website, and how to fix it. A third video offers tips on how to identify whether your website has been hacked, as well as specific actions to avoid if you discover malware on your website.
babanature
Hello Di,
I have been keeping my blog clean, so for now it hasn’t been hacked and i don’t pray for that to happen because i know how frustrated it might be. Good tutorial and i’ll keep in mind so i won’t get slapped in the face by those jobless hackers 😀 thanks
Atif Imran
Hackers are a very ugly part of the internet . i don’t know why hackers use their skills to bad purposes .
@DiTesco useful information .
Lalita Bisht
True. hacking is a big trouble for webmasters. I use to backup my sites on daily basis. Thanks for sharing this informative video.
Connor Harley
This is great news. I haven’t been hacked but I don’t want to take any risk either that is why I am always taking necessary precautions to protect my website.
Rajeev. R
Great news! Right initiative taken by Google to help website owners to recover their hacked sites.
Organized
Bad feeling when your site gets hacked. The ftp service of one of my sites was hacked and caused me big trouble. Take the suggested steps to secure your site and BACKUP it as often as needed to recover it in case of problems.
davujose
My 2 sites was hacked with max security and now I have done a small change in my site which is now completely safe till now and that is nothing just change a small word in start. have many attempts to on my site and they was completely fail. but I think I must consider this too.
Rajkumar Jonnala
great article webmaster has done a great job.this is a very good news for all the bloggers..
PrIyAnGsHu
Great news for webmasters. It happens often that our sites get hacked, especially WordPress based sites with less security gets hacked pretty often. This will obviously help us to tackle down such attacks :).
Debashisa Jena
Google is also sending error msgs if your robots.txt is blocking pages!!
Sudipto
Hey DiTesco,
Nice post and Yes, hacking is become common these days and for protecting my blog I have installed some security plugins. I wanna thanks webmaster for providing this service. Thanks for sharing this post.
yogesh pant
that is why people are happy to work with the google and have the faith in products made or even supported by google. Goofle always has something in its store for its users to please them or to help them in each and every way they may get any threat possibly.
It is just an example of that.