Has your WordPress website hacked despite your best efforts to keep it safe? Unfortunately, despite all of the technology and WordPress security measures, no website is totally protected from being hacked by professional hackers in the digital world. But did you know that as a website owner, you may take actions to clean hacked WordPress website, as well as to detect whether it has been hacked? Let's have a look at how!

Symptoms of a website hacked WordPress

Numerous apparent and subtle symptoms show that your WordPress website hacked. Instead of panicking, circling your office, “my website is hacked” The following steps might most prevalent indications of a hacked WordPress site:

1. According to Google Analytics records, a rapid decline or surge in website traffic.

2. Data or harmful links are injected into your website (for example, your website footer), which is frequently accomplished by creating a backdoor on the WordPress website.

3. The most evident symptom is the defacing of the website homepage. If the hackers wish to go unnoticed for a longer period, they may forgo defacing the site.

4. Inability to get into your WordPress account as the administrator, indicating that the hacker may have erased your WordPress admin account.

5. Unknown files and scripts are added to your web server folder.

6. An overflow of HTTP requests delivered to your web server causes a slow or unusable website.

Even after confirmation, again don’t panic by saying, “my website is hacked! What should I do?” because now the most important procedure is about to start.

What are the Steps to Recovering a Hacked WordPress Site?

1. Figure out what kind of hack it is

This can be accomplished by employing scanning technologies that can detect malicious code. Check the WordPress core files, which are found in the wp-admin, wp-includes, and other root directories, for any core vulnerabilities.

You may also utilise Google's Transparency Report to use their diagnostic tools to determine your website's current security level.

2. Disable the Hack

After you've found where the malware files are, you may compare them to a recent backup version of the data to determine what's changed.

i. Clean up the WordPress Files: Any fundamental infected files, such as the wp-config.php file or the wp-content folder, can be manually fixed. Other contaminated custom files can be cleaned using a backup file or by manually deleting them.

ii. Cleaning the Hacked Database Tables: You'll need to do this to get rid of any infected malware files from your database tables. You may also utilise database search to find common harmful PHP functions like eval, base64 decode, and preg replace.

iii. Removing Backdoors: Backdoor PHP functions inserted into files like wp-config.php and folders like /themes, /plugins/, or /uploads are another technique that hackers use to get unauthorised access to your website.

Solutions for WordPress Security

It is preferable to use a realistic WordPress security solution if you do not have the technical know-how to execute a manual clean-up. Furthermore, most skilled hackers conceal their harmful scripts in many WordPress folder locations, allowing for recurrent hacking and making them tough to check and delete. The majority of security solutions available repair the compromised website by executing the following steps:

1. Scanning to find out where the virus and infected files are. Popular WordPress plugins audits show the security state of your core WordPress files as well as where compromised files are located.

2. Cleaning to address and remove the malware that has been discovered. While WordPress security solutions include auto-cleaning features, TAC scans installed themes for malicious code and provides two options for fixing the problem: manual removal of the contaminated code or replacing the infected file with the original clean version.

Fixing Your WordPress Website's Vulnerability

In addition to fixing and restoring website hacked WordPress, it's also critical to address the security issues that led to the attack in the first place. Even after the infected website has been cleaned and rebuilt, most hackers may exploit security flaws.

1. Keep all software on your WordPress site up to date, since the majority of vulnerabilities are caused by outdated versions of software applications.

2. Update all WordPress plugins and themes that have been installed. Because the majority of WordPress hacks are caused by flaws in third-party plugins and themes, it's critical to notify the plugin developer team so that a security patch can be developed and released.

3. Use WordPress's advice on the “hacked my website” segment and learn how to make your website more secure. Use a WordPress firewall plugin to safeguard your website and reduce the likelihood of future hacking.

FAQs | WordPress website hacked

Q. Is WordPress vulnerable to hacking?

Ans:- The most recent version of the WordPress core is more secure than prior versions. Furthermore, WordPress is not an easy platform to hack if you utilise a popular security plugin and follow all of the recommended practices for WordPress security.

Q. What happened to my WordPress site after it was hacked?

Ans:- If security is embedded into the way the website is set up, WordPress is relatively protected from hacking attempts. You may be certain that your WordPress website is protected from cyber-attacks if you use a properly configured security plugin (WAF) and set up security-related ground rules.