Signs that my website has been hacked

Like many other businesses, you depend a lot on your website. It does everything from promotion to eCommerce transactions and everything in between.

Without your website, your business would experience a significant setback. In light of this, there are still numerous people who even leave their web pages vulnerable to hackers which places their companies at risk.

If you are not sure if your website is hacked, or if you suspect your web page was incorrectly flagged, begin by registering it in the search console. If you cannot detect the compromised content, it may be utilizing a method referred to as cloaking. This makes cleaning the website trickier by identifying various kinds of users. For instance, when you visit a page on your web page, you might notice the page has no content. This might make you believe that the hack does not exist. Although, Google search engine will detect the presence of spammy words and links.

Reactive signs you may identify when hackers have attacked your website

Even the most conscious system administrators cannot manage to monitor their site all the time. The ideal monitoring tools have a delay between every site scan and scrutiny. Therefore you may find that you have been hacked from an external source. Below are some sources of information you can utilize to monitor your web page proactively.

1. Alerts of the hack from a browser

If you or one of your visitors observes the following warning, your site has possibly been hacked.

Phishing-attack-warning

This warning shows that your web page has been utilized in phishing expeditions. A victim receives an email containing an URL that has a link to your site. A hacker uses your website to host malware which tricks the victim into making a move that the hacker wants you to when they visit your website.

Malware-attack warning

This warning indicates that your website is hosting malware. A hacker has already access to the site, installed the malware on it, and is infecting machines belonging to the people who visit your site.

2. Your host provider takes down your web page

In this situation, you will have received reports from your visitors about your website being hacked. Their automated security software may have alerted them or from other exterior sources from their own company. In either situation, they usually immediately take your website offline.

Some hosting firms have a policy that involves formatting immediately an infected server or hosting account. This is done to prevent the spreading of the infection to other clients even after the website has been taken down. This is an additional reason why it is essential to have backups or your site. Frequently your host sends you a notification email that your website has been taken offline.

3 Google search results identify your website as unsafe or hacked.

If you see the below results after searching your website on Google, it has likely been attacked by hackers:

“this site may be hacked, or it may damage your computer.”

Google frequently removes hacked web pages from search results. However, in several instances the website may be still listed bug will have the aforementioned message upon searching it on Google. When you browse the site using Chrome, it will give you one of the warnings above. Individuals utilizing different browsers may be given no notice, and this is why the notice is present in the search results.

“This site may be hacked” signifies that Google has seen something out of the ordinary on your web page like strange changes to existing pages or the addition of new ones with redirects or SEO spam.

“This website may be harmful to your computer” shows that Google has seen malware on the website and if you access the site,
you access it at your own risk, and you will receive the warning if you click through whose purpose is to alert you that the website is not safe.

4. Google’s search console warns you to malware your website

Search console was also known as Google Webmaster tools. GSC will alert you of issues Google may face when indexing your web page and will offer you statistics showing your site visits through search.

The search console can send you alerts about your web page like for instance if it identifies that your website has a malware infection. Visit the search console and enable email notifications. This will immediately alert you when Google senses malware on your web page and you might be able to solve the issue before they begin to send a warning.

5. Alerts from your malware scanner

If you have Wordfence or any other malware scanner, you may be notified of an infection. This is the ideal method of finding out a
hack since it usually has the shortest duration between getting infected and finding out.

You typically receive this notification through your email; thus it is crucial to keep a close eye on warnings from your site. Do not ignore them because they send too many notifications. You can change the sort of alerts you are emailed in your monitoring.

6. If you are contacted by a client of your website being hacked

The people who visit your site more frequently than you. If you have a thousand visits within 24 hours and your web page is hacked,
it is possible that a client may contact you before you are notified or Google senses the hack. Immediately let the clients know that you are making a move. Besides you can consider taking the site offline.

Final word

This article has offered you numerous tools to monitor your website from hackers, and we have also seen the signs that you usually observe when your site is hacked. Use the signs as part of your toolkit. For instance, regularly sign in to the search console to find your website`s status, check your site in the search results to make sure that everything is okay, and visit your web page often in Google chrome where they will alert you in case of anything.

Having a healthy and hack-free web page does not necessarily have to be a difficult task, though developing a standard procedure of checks will assist you in catching issues early and solving them before any harm occurs.

FAQ