WordPress Hacked: How To Get Rid Of This Trouble?

WordPress Hacked!! It is any website owner’s nightmare and why not? After all website owner put their all efforts and hard-earned money to develop and grow their website. Which can vanish within a few seconds. It is all due to the popularity and vast majority of people using WordPress to build their websites.

  • WordPress powers over 40% of all websites, making it a prime target for hackers looking to exploit vulnerabilities and cause harm.
  • The WordPress team is constantly working to secure the core software and protect it against malicious attacks and hacks.
  • The flexibility and customization options of WordPress are a major draw, but plugins and themes may also contain security flaws that could leave your website vulnerable.

But you do not need to worry about it anymore. Prevention is always better than cure, but if you still get caught in this problem we have the solution.

In this blog post, we try to provide you with a complete guide on How you can prevent WordPress hacked? What are the reasons for being WordPress hacked? and What is the solutions after WordPress is Hacked?

Let us get started!

What are the signs of WordPress being Hacked?

Sometimes, you may weren’t able to figure out, that your website is being compromised or WordPress hacked. But after some time you might sense an unusual behavior that is not as it should do. It can be a server problem or bug, but how do you assure that the problem arises due to a hacker attack?

Let us take a look at some of the most common signs of WordPress hacked:

  • You are unable to log in to your WordPress site account.
  • You find there have been certain changes in your website look or design.
  • Your website might be showing redirection to another location.
  • A warning message is shown on the screen whenever you try to login into your WordPress site account.
  • You receive a warning message or email from your security plugin intimidating about a security breach or an unusual activity.
  • You even received a warning email or message from your Web hosting service provider about unusual activity on your website.

Let us get into more detail on each point that I have mentioned above:

Sign of WordPress Hacked 1: Unable to log into your WordPress site

  • Inability to access your WordPress admin page or forgetting your password may be signs of a serious WordPress hack.
  • If you can still access your admin page through hit and trial, it is still possible that your site has been hacked and further investigation is necessary.
  • Hackers may change or remove your login credentials, such as your username and password, to prevent access and make it difficult to reset your password.
  • These signs may indicate that your WordPress site has been hacked and it’s important to take action to investigate and address the issue.

Sign of WordPress Hacked 2: Your WordPress Website Looks a bit unusual or Different

Another sign of WordPress Hacked is the appearance of your WordPress Website will be quite different from before.

  • Your website’s homepage may be replaced with a static page, or the overall appearance of your website might be drastically changed, indicating a possible WordPress hack.
  • Hackers may make small but impactful changes to your site, such as adding graphic images, malicious links, or illegal content.
  • Your website footer may have a lot of link options that you did not add, and their font size and appearance may look suspicious.
  • Even if you recently updated your website theme from an unreliable or genuine source, it can still be the culprit of a hack.
  • These signs are all indications that your website has been seriously hacked, but it’s important to check with other website users or editors to see if they made the changes.

Sign of WordPress Hacked 3: Your Website Redirecting to another location

Site Redirecting to another location
WordPress Hacked: Site Redirecting to another location
  • Hackers commonly redirect the home page or website address to a different location, which can negatively impact your website traffic and domain authority and is a sign of a possible WordPress hack.
  • Security flaws on the server side are often the main cause of these security breaches.
  • It’s recommended to use a quality-managed WordPress hosting service like WPOven, which has top-notch security measures in place to prevent hacks.

If you encounter a situation where you suspect a WordPress hack, it’s recommended to switch to WPOven hosting immediately to ensure your server is secure and prevent future hacks.


Read: 🚩 33 Reasons TO Choose WPOven As Your Web Hosting Partner In Growth


Sign of WordPress Hacked 4: Warning message from Your Browser

Browser warning message of WordPress hacked
Browser warning message of WordPress hacked

Sometimes, you may receive a warning message on your browser showing your website is compromised or showing there is a potential risk on your website. These are the signs that your WordPress was hacked. However, this kind of issue can also arise due to various other factors such as issues with the theme, plugin, or SSL certificate.

You must remove the plugin or theme ASAP to solve this issue if they are the culprit and do like the advice provided that can help you to diagnose the problem which is mentioned along with the warning message in your Browser.


Sign of WordPress Hacked 5: Warning Message From Search Engines

On some occasions, even Search Engines like Google can also send you a warning message showing “This Site may be Hacked“. This warning message is likely due to your sitemap having been hacked. That restricts Google crawlers to crawl your website.

Or it can also be a sign of some serious problem happening with your Website. It is better you must conduct a proper diagnosis to find out the exact reason before coming to any conclusion.

WordPress hacked Warning message from Search Engines
WordPress hacked: Sitemap Hacked

Why do Hackers love to attack WordPress Sites?

One thing just let me clarify before beginning the reasons why hackers love to attack WordPress sites. It is not just the WordPress sites, hackers attack and hack almost every website on the internet, and every website on the internet is vulnerable to being attacked or hacked.

The point is, the majority of the website (more than 40%) on the internet is built on WordPress. That means millions of the websites available on the internet including some high authority websites get powered by WordPress.

Hence, due to its huge popularity, it also attracts many hackers to find out loopholes and is an easy way to look out for less secure websites to hack. The severity of hacking a website depends on the motive of hackers.

  • Some hackers who are in their learning phase, try to hack simple and less secure WordPress websites.
  • Some would like to spread malware either by using plugins and themes or by using a website to spam other websites on the internet.

1. Cheap and Insecure Web Hosting service

As you know, a website needs to be hosted on a webserver to run. But sometimes due to low budget or to provide lucrative offers, some web hosting companies do not provide a proper security system for web hosting.

Due to this all the websites which are hosted on the same hosting platform become vulnerable to WordPress Hacked.

Hence, it is the main reason, that you must always try to choose the best and most reliable WordPress hosting that provides secure infrastructure. A secure hosting platform has the potential to block many of the most common cyber-attacks and properly secure the server.

And if you want to host your website on a solid and more secure hosting platform, WPOven is one of the best options to choose your managed WordPress hosting provider.

2. Using Most common and Weak Passwords

As you know how important a password is and it is the key through which you can only get access to your WordPress site. But the only thing you must care about is to make it enough strong for anyone to guess the right password.

Since technology has evolved, there are new techniques have been developed by which hackers can easily get through websites by using some simple but impactful techniques such as Brute force attacks.

The only thing that you can do best is to create a strong unique password for every account associated with your website. Because these are some of the ways through which a hacker would attempt to hack your website and intrude on your website.

  • Website Admin login page.
  • Your Hosting cPanel account.
  • File Transfer Protocol Account
  • Your Personal email accounts that used for signup Web hosting and the Website Admin page.
  • Database account

All these accounts that I have listed above are password protected. Hence, it is highly recommended that you must use a strong password for each one of them so that it becomes tough to next to impossible for hackers to crack it.

3. Vulnerable WordPress Admin login page

Vulnerable WordPress login page
WordPress hacked: Vulnerable WordPress admin page

WordPress Admin page is one of the ways through which website admin and other users such as the Editor can get into the Website dashboard. Hence, it is one of the most targeted areas for attack and gets WordPress hacked.

Without any additional security layers or protection measures, Hackers will try different methods to get access to our website. However, you can apply different protection layers to this page and make it a lot more difficult for them to crack.

The first and most basic protection layer is to use a strong password to Protect your WordPress admin login page.

You can also read our detailed article on the Best way to change your Default WordPress Login Url and add more layers to it.

If you have a multi-user WordPress site, You can assign roles with certain limitations and ask them to create strong passwords.

4. Stopped Updating WordPress Core Files

Due to a lack of knowledge, some WordPress admin fears Updating WordPress core files regularly. And if you thought, updating WordPress could lead your Website to Damage or add some bugs that are unstable for their website.

You are just exposing your website as vulnerable to attacks and ultimately becoming a victim of a WordPress hack.

But still, if you fear about updating can harm your website, then should take a different path. Make a complete backup of your WordPress website before updating your WordPress files.

Hence, by doing this you can be assured that whenever there is something that went wrong with your website you can easily revert to the previous version.

5. Stopped Updating WordPress Themes and Plugins

Like not regularly updating WordPress core files, you might have also stopped updating your WordPress themes and plugins.

Which you are only making more vulnerable to your WordPress being Hacked. As mentioned earlier, Hackers often try to find security flaws in plugins and themes. Hence to encounter such situations, developers and authors always try to fix these issues by bringing regular updates.

Hence, if you do not update them regularly, then even the support them cannot help you with it. And your website becomes vulnerable to getting WordPress hacked.

6. Using Simple FTP clients

To access web server files of your websites, generally, FTP accounts are used using an FTP client such as FileZilla. And there are different Protocols available such as Plain FTP, SSH, and SFTP.

So, if you are using a Plain FTP, the risk of being hacked and data theft is more. It is because The plain FTP will send your username and password to an unsecured and encrypted server. Hence, it is highly recommended you must choose either SFTP or SSH to access your web server files.

Another thing you must note is that Most of the FTP clients available use SFTP or SSH to connect. Hence, there is no need to change your FTP client, all you need to do is just change the SFTP-SSH protocol while connecting.

7. Using “Admin” Default and most common username

By default, WordPress assigns the username as ‘Admin’ and many users do not like to change it. But, it is highly recommended that if you are a web admin and use Admin as an admin username, you must change it as soon as possible with a different uncommon username.

8. Using Plugins and Themes from unreliable and not trusted sources

To save some money and look for better offers, many websites on the internet offers premium paid plugins and themes either free or at a very less price. Hence, users find this kind of offer tempting and get into the trap and get WordPress hacked.

Not downloading from such unreliable and untrustful sources can lead to your WordPress being hacked but can also steal your sensitive information.

Hence, I highly recommend you always download Themes and plugins from trustful sources such as the WordPress repository and also check out the user ratings and reviews.

However, for beginners who do not have the budget or are in their learning phase, then they can go for Free plugins and themes that are always available in WordPress. You may not find these Free plugins or Themes as good as the premium ones, but they can do the most basic work and your website will be safe


Things you must do when WordPress hacked

If you have already hosted your website on WPOven, their powerful security system won’t let your WordPress be hacked Easily. We have customized IPTables-based Firewalls on all servers which are hosting your sites.

  • The firewall can be customized further based on threats faced by your site.
  • We also offer help against basic DoS attacks against your site.
  • We also have daily malware scanning to detect code injections if they take place.

To avoid getting hacked we recommend using the latest releases of the plugins and themes on your site. Also updating your WordPress regularly ( If you have stopped auto-updates).
WPOven also offers some features to protect you against getting hacked –

  • Site Lock – Available on your site tools page this will lock down the files on your site so that they cannot be modified to include malicious code.
  • Plugin Checker – In your Site dashboard WPOven scans for the currently installed version of the plugin on your site and if any exploits have been found for the same, use this to update plugins that have known exploits.

In addition to it, we can even clean your website and remove any malicious code found in your setup. And then we will migrate you to our servers so that in the future this does not happen again.

But if your website is not hosted on WPOVen, You need to follow these steps depending on how your website has been hacked.

Step 1: Be calm and figure out the problem

After being WordPress hacked, it is obvious that any website admin will get panic. But you don’t have to, all you need to do becomes calm and clear your mind so that you can easily figure out the degree of damage and a solution to fix it as soon as possible.

However, if you are unable to figure out the solution, Meanwhile, you can simply put your website into Maintenance mode until your mind is calm and relaxed.

Step 2: Put your Website on Maintenance Mode

When WordPress is Hacked, it can affect your SERP as well as DA. Your visitors will find out something fishy or wrong with the side and you don’t like them to see whatever you are doing with your website while fixing it.

  • If your WordPress website is hacked, it’s best to put it in Maintenance Mode while you figure out and fix the problem.
  • If you can’t access your website, try to regain access as soon as possible and then put it in Maintenance Mode.
  • There are various WordPress plugins available that can help you easily put your website in maintenance mode.
  • This will show your users that the site is under maintenance, rather than indicating that it has been hacked.
  • Putting your website in Maintenance Mode will give you a stable state of mind, as you’ll be able to see the hacked and broken site without your visitors being able to see it.

Step 3: Change or Reset all your Passwords

  • When login credentials have been compromised, it can be difficult to figure out which ones have been affected.
  • It’s better to change or reset all login credentials rather than just the single username and password to prevent hackers from using the previous password to gain access.
  • Resetting all login credentials includes not only WordPress passwords but also Web server, database passwords, and login credentials provided by the Web hosting service.
  • Other website admin users should also be asked to change or reset their passwords from their end.

Step 4: Keep regularly updating themes and Plugins

Keeping Regular updated your WordPress plugins and themes with their latest definitions can reduce most of the risk of getting WordPress hacked. All you just need to log in to your WordPress admin > Dashboard > Updates and update the plugins or theme that is out of date.

But one thing you must note is that before attempting or trying to fix any other thing, the first thing you must do is update our plugin or theme. Because, in most cases, if there is any trouble happening with your website, the malfunctioning theme or plugin can be the culprit. Hence, it is best to approach to update everything before you try to fix anything.

Step 5: Remove unauthorized and suspicious admin user

In any chance, you have added another admin account without your knowledge or you find it suspicious, then it is best to remove them immediately. But before doing so, check out all the website Admin settings, and that if they have been altered or not.

You need to go to your WordPress dashboard > Users > Admins, and look out for any unauthorized or suspicious admin added or not from the list of all the users. If you found any user who should not have certain permissions, immediately remove them by clicking on the delete link provided.

Step 6: Clean up and remove unwanted Files

Some files which are not required or malicious plugins that you have installed might be left with some unwanted files while installing them. These unwanted files can consist of malicious scripts that are vulnerable to getting WordPress hacked.

Hence, to avoid such, you can install a security plugin that can regularly scan your website files and alert you when there are such unwanted files are present.

Step 7: Purge your old Sitemap and submit a new one

  • If your website has been hacked and search engines have marked it as red-flagged, it means that hackers attacked your sitemap.
  • The only option left is to purge the old/hacked sitemap.xml file and generate a new one using your SEO plugin.
  • You should let Google know that you have successfully purged the old sitemap.xml and your website has been cleaned.
  • To inform Google, submit your newly generated sitemap to Google Search Console.
  • After cleaning your website, Google may not start crawling it immediately. It can take up to weeks or months, so you may have to wait.

Step 8: Check plugins and themes if necessary reinstall them

  • If the problem with your website persists, the next step is to check your plugins and themes and reinstall them, even if you have already updated them previously.
  • Always put your website in maintenance mode before deleting or removing WordPress themes or plugins.
  • If you are not sure about the reliability of third-party plugins or themes, consider removing them.
  • It’s best to get plugins and themes from their official website or a trusted and reliable marketplace.
  • If you can’t afford to buy paid plugins, it’s better to use the free version from a reliable source.
  • If you still can’t fix your website, check reviews and ratings of all the plugins and themes on forums or their website to see if other users are experiencing the same problem.

Step 9: Purge your WordPress Database

If your WordPress database has been hacked, in that case, you need to purge or clean your WordPress database completely. However, cleaning your database has its benefits.

  • The website will have less unwanted data
  • Take less pace
  • The website speed will be increased.

But the thing is, How exactly you came to know about your WordPress Database has been hacked? Well, if you are using a security plugin that scans your website regularly. It will intimate you immediately if the site database has been hacked.

Step 10: Reinstall again the WordPress Software

  • If previous steps fail to fix the hacked website, reinstalling WordPress is the last option.
  • Sometimes hackers can infect WordPress core files, and replacing them with a new installation is the only solution.
  • You can reinstall WordPress by uploading the WordPress files to your website using SFTP and overwriting the files with the new ones.
  • Before reinstalling WordPress, take a backup of your website to avoid losing any data.
  • Avoid using an auto-installer while reinstalling WordPress because it will overwrite your database, and the website’s content will be lost. Use SFTP to upload files only.

How to Prevent Your WordPress Site From Being Hacked

Apart from the solution, it is always highly recommended that you must take necessary preventive steps to avoid such a catastrophic situation with your website. Since we have already mentioned that prevention is always better than remedies. You must take some Preventory steps so that you have not been a victim of a WordPress hack.

Let us check out what are they.

1. Regular Update WordPress software themes and Plugins to their latest version

  • Over 60% of WordPress users update their WordPress regularly but there are still millions of websites that do not update
  • The chaotic updating system of WordPress is one of the reasons why many website admins fail to update their WordPress regularly
  • For minor updates, WordPress can automatically update with regular bug fixes and small improvements, but major updates require manual updating from the WordPress dashboard
  • Procrastinating or failing to update WordPress with the latest version containing security patches and bug fixes may lead to the risk of being a victim of a WordPress hack

2. Take Regular Backups

  • Regularly taking backups is an essential and precautionary step to take for website owners.
  • Even with high-security measures, there is always a risk of the website getting hacked.
  • Hackers can infect website files with malicious codes or files.
  • It is highly recommended to take website backups regularly to ensure the website can be restored to its previous state.
  • There are thousands of WordPress backup plugins available to choose from.
  • A detailed article on the best WordPress backup plugins is available for user convenience.

3. Install Best WordPress Security Plugins

When we talk about WordPress platforms, it is generally secure. The things that make it vulnerable to getting WordPress hacked are the themes, plugins, and Website admin’s recklessness. Due to this Hackers get easy access to your websites.

You may not notice at first and due to this it becomes late to take any action, as a result, your WordPress is hacked and blacklisted by Google.

Hence, due to this, it is crucial to scan your website completely at regular intervals for any malicious activity or files. It is also important to get notified or alerts when there is a possibility of any threat found.

All this can be possible by simply using a WordPress Security Plugin, that can easily handle such a task. Again for your convenience, we have a detailed article on the Best WordPress Security Plugins you can try.


Summary

Being WordPress Hacked can be a devastating situation for any individual. Because it took a lot of time and effort from building a website to bringing it to the top positions of SERPs by pushing tremendous SEO efforts. All these can vanish in just a snap of your fingertips. And your efforts will go in vain. Hence, to avoid such a scenario, you can take some preventive measures that we have already discussed in this article in detail.

Here is the recap of Preventive measures you should do to avoid WordPress hacking.

  • Regular WordPress plugins, Themes, and WordPress core updates.
  • Take Regular Updates to your WordPress website.
  • Install WordPress Best Security Plugins

Apart from taking preventive measures, there at times when your website still gets Hacked in that case let us check out the recap of the steps you must follow:

  • Figure out the problem
  • Put the Website on Maintenance mode
  • Reset your all Passwords
  • Regular update plugins and themes
  • Remove unauthorized and suspicious admin user
  • Clean up and remove unwanted Files
  • Purge your old Sitemap and submit a new one
  • Check plugins and themes if necessary reinstall them
  • Purge your WordPress Database
  • Reinstall again the WordPress Software

Always remember, to do all these above steps if your want to secure your website from getting WordPress Hacked in the future or it gets hacked. If you have more tips on preventing WordPress Hacked or any solution to fix it. Please do let us know in the comment section below, I would love to know your valuable input.


Frequently Asked Questions


Is WordPress easily hacked?

In a short answer, No, It is not possible to get WordPress Hacked and it is one of the most secure platforms available. But What makes it vulnerable to WordPress hacking are the plugins, themes, and the user’s recklessness.

Can someone hack my WordPress?

Yes, there are high chances of your WordPress being Hacked if you do not follow these steps:
1. Cheap and Insecure Web Hosting service
2. Using Most common and Weak Passwords
3. Vulnerable WordPress Admin login page
4. Stopped Updating WordPress Core Files
5. Stopped Updating WordPress Themes and Plugins
6. Using Simple FTP clients
7. Using “Admin” Default and most common username
8. Using Plugins and Themes from unreliable and not trusted sources

What are signs that a website has been hacked?

The signs that a Website or WordPress Hacked are:
1. You are unable to log in to your WordPress site account.
2. You find there have been certain changes in your website look or design.
3. Your website might be showing redirection to another location.
4. A warning message is shown on the screen whenever you try to login into your WordPress site account.
5. You receive a warning message or email from your security plugin intimidating about a security breach or unusual activity.
6. You even received a warning email or message from your Web hosting service provider about any unusual activity on your website.

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