My Website Got Hacked - What To Do Immediately

This guide is for website owners who faced the worst: a hack. We will go step by step - fast, practical, and clear. If you want to become a security beast, stick with us. 😉

---

Introduction - Why You Should Care

First thing: a website hack is not just technical pain - it’s a blow to your reputation, SEO, and customer trust. Search engines may flag your site with "This site may be hacked," which drops traffic and rankings immediately. You need a fast, clear action plan.

Immediate Steps (Do This Now)

1. Stay calm and take a backup: Before anything, download your current files and database. Even if compromised, this backup is essential for analysis. Do not delete anything yet.
2. Put the site in maintenance mode or offline: Reduces damage and prevents malware from spreading.
3. Contact your hosting provider: Inform them immediately and request access logs and error logs. Hosting may help isolate IPs or stop suspicious processes.
4. Change all passwords: For CMS, cPanel/Plesk, FTP/SFTP, database, and associated emails. Use strong, random passwords.
5. Check Google Search Console: Look for security messages or warnings "Hacked content."

Incident Analysis (Basic Forensics)

Goal: understand the entry point, timeline, and damage. Not just a surface cleanup.

• Review access logs: Look for unusual requests, repeated login attempts from the same IP, or suspicious POST requests.
• Check error logs: Files requested that do not exist or PHP errors can indicate exploit attempts.
• Check recently modified files: PHP, JS, or unknown files in wp-content/uploads or theme folders.
• Scan your database: Look for unusual tables, injected HTML/JS inside wp_posts, or custom tables.

Malware Removal and Cleaning

Cleaning requires precision. You can do it if experienced, or hire a professional security company.

1. Keep a safe backup: Never skip this - preserve files before deletion.
2. Replace core files: For WordPress, replace wp-admin and wp-includes with original or latest version.
3. Check plugins and themes: Delete unknown or unused plugins/themes. Update remaining ones. If unsure, deactivate all and activate one by one.
4. Remove unknown files: Suspicious PHP, .htaccess, or other unknown files - move them for analysis first.
5. Clean the database: Remove suspicious content from wp_posts or custom tables.
6. Run Malware Scanners: Tools like Wordfence, Sucuri, or MalCare help identify infected files and vulnerabilities.

Restore From Clean Backup (Best Practice)

1. Identify last safe time: Use logs to find the last clean state.
2. Restore from trusted backup: From hosting provider or plugin backup (Jetpack, UpdraftPlus, VPS snapshot).
3. Change all passwords after restore: Old passwords may have been compromised.
4. Scan post-restore: Run full malware scan to confirm site is clean.

Search Engine and Reputation Recovery

• Check Google Search Console Security Issues.
• Remove malicious pages, then request review after full cleanup.
• Check Bing Webmaster Tools too.
• Monitor Google Analytics for unusual traffic.
• Notify your users/customers if needed, briefly explaining the incident.

Post-Cleanup Security Hardening

1. Update CMS, plugins, themes, and server PHP.
2. Enable 2FA for all admin accounts.
3. Change default ports like SSH, limit access by IP.
4. Use SFTP/SSH instead of FTP.
5. Set correct file/folder permissions: 644 for files, 755 for folders.
6. Install a Web Application Firewall (WAF).
7. Monitor logs for suspicious access continuously.
8. Remove unused user accounts and change passwords for ex-employees.

SEO Recovery Tips

• Remove any spammy pages or doorway pages.
• Check robots.txt and sitemap.xml for correctness.
• Request Google re-crawl after full cleanup.
• Check backlinks for malicious links added by hackers.
• Notify subscribers/users if necessary.

Quick Email Template to Hosting Provider

Subject: Urgent: Possible Security Breach - Assistance Required

Hello [Hosting Provider Support],

My website [yourdomain.com] appears to have been compromised. I have taken the site offline temporarily and created a backup of the current files and database.

Could you please:
1. Provide access logs and error logs for the past 30 days.
2. Temporarily isolate the affected account or IP if possible.
3. Let me know if there are any suspicious processes running on the server.

Thanks for urgent help to investigate and contain this issue.

Regards,
[Your Name]
  

Quick Email Template to Users/Customers

Subject: Important: Security Incident Update

Dear [Customer Name],

We recently discovered a security incident affecting our website [yourdomain.com]. We have taken immediate steps to contain and investigate the issue. Services have been restored and additional security measures implemented.

If you received any suspicious communication, please ignore it. We advise changing your password if reused elsewhere.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
[Company Name] - Security Team
  

Checklist (Printable)

• Backup files and database ✅
• Put site offline ✅
• Change all passwords ✅
• Request hosting logs ✅
• Scan files/database with Malware Scanner Or Reach us ✅
• Restore clean backup ✅
• Enable 2FA, update all software ✅
• Request search engine re-review ✅
• Notify users if needed ✅

When to Hire Professional Help

If you are not comfortable performing the steps, or if damage is severe (financial systems hacked, customer data leaked, persistent intrusion) - hire a security experts like us codeila. Mishandling can cause repeat attacks.

TL;DR

Backup immediately, go offline, change passwords, get logs, clean or restore backup, harden security (updates, 2FA, WAF), check search engines, notify users if needed.

---

FAQs

---

Professional Help - Codeila Can Handle It

Cleaning and securing a hacked site is not a game. Codeila offers:

• Full forensics analysis (logs, malware indicators)
• Site cleaning and restoration
• Security hardening (WAF, 2FA, updates)
• SEO follow-up and search engine review
• Detailed report and future protection plan

Get a free initial scan and report - contact us at: codeila.com

---

Final Codeila Advice

Always be prepared before the worst happens. Have a plan, backup often, and treat security as an investment. If your site gets hit - act fast, act smart, and add a little devilish spirit. Ready for a free scan? Let's start!

- Codeila Security Team