Top 10 Signs Your Website Has Been

Hacked (And How to Fix It)

A hacked website doesn’t always scream for attention. In many cases, the signs are subtle – hidden pages, strange redirects, unusual spikes in CPU usage, or suspicious files you never created. Hackers often prefer stealth, because the longer they stay inside your system unnoticed, the more damage they can quietly do.

Whether you run a small blog, a business website, an online store, or a SaaS platform, knowing how to spot early signs of a breach is crucial. A hacked website affects your visitors, your revenue, your reputation, and even your search engine rankings.

This guide reveals the top 10 real-world signs that your website has been compromised – based on years of cybersecurity experience at
Codeila – plus practical steps on how to fix each issue, even if you’re not a technical expert.

1. Your Website Suddenly Redirects Visitors to Unknown or Suspicious Sites

This is one of the most common and dangerous signs of a hacked website. If your visitors click a page and suddenly get redirected to:

• Gambling pages
• Fake “security alert” sites
• Phishing pages
• Adult content
• Unknown foreign domains

…then your site’s files, database, or .htaccess may have been modified. Many of these attacks are automated and target vulnerable plugins or outdated CMS installations (especially WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento).

Why hackers do this:

• To generate affiliate revenue
• To spread malware
• To steal user data
• To hide malicious activity behind your domain

How to Fix It:

• Scan all files for injected JavaScript or iframes
• Check for hidden redirects in .htaccess
• Reset your CMS core files from official sources
• Use a malware scanner (Wordfence, Sucuri, or custom tools)
• Change all passwords immediately

2. Your Website Shows a “This Site May Be Hacked” Warning on Google

If Google detects unusual or malicious behavior, it flags your site with warnings like:

• “This site may be hacked”
• “This site may harm your computer”
• “Deceptive site ahead”

This is devastating for SEO and will drop your search rankings instantly. Visitors also get scared and leave the site immediately.

How Google detects this:

• Malicious scripts
• SEO spam
• Phishing pages
• Trojan-like behavior

How to Fix It:

• Clean all malware from your files and database
• Remove injected pages (e.g., spam blog posts)
• Verify ownership on Google Search Console
• Request a reconsideration review

If you need help with malware cleanup or Google reconsideration,
contact Codeila.

3. Unexpected Changes in Your Website’s Content or Pages

If you see content you never created – like new pages, spam posts, new admin accounts, or foreign-language URLs – your website has likely been compromised.

Common signs:

• Thousands of new spam pages appear in your sitemap
• Your homepage text changes
• Hidden spam links inserted into old posts
• Blog posts published without your knowledge
• PHP or HTML files you didn’t upload

This attack is called “SEO spam injection,” and it is extremely common.

How to Fix It:

• Manually delete unknown admin users
• Check your database for injected content
• Use your security plugin to scan for known malware signatures
• Reinstall your CMS core files

4. Your Hosting Provider Sends You Abuse or Spam Alerts

Many hacked sites are used to send bulk spam emails or host phishing pages, leading to hosting providers sending warnings or suspending accounts.

Common emails from hosts include:

• “Your account has been flagged for suspicious activity.”
• “Your website is sending out spam emails.”
• “Phishing pages were detected in your public_html folder.”
• “We received an abuse complaint regarding malware on your domain.”

Why hackers use your server for spam:

• Free SMTP access
• Your domain’s reputation helps bypass filters
• Hidden scripts can run continuously

How to Fix It:

• Check your mail logs for suspicious activity
• Remove unknown cron jobs
• Scan for PHP mailer scripts
• Ask your host to reset your SMTP credentials

5. Massive Slowdowns or Unexplained High Resource Usage

A hacked site often runs:

• background scripts
• crypto miners
• malicious cron jobs
• spam-sending scripts

Your CPU, RAM, and bandwidth suddenly spike. Pages load slowly. Sometimes your site becomes completely unresponsive.

How to Fix It:

• Check your hosting panel’s resource usage logs
• Scan for cron jobs you didn’t add
• Delete unknown PHP scripts
• Check wp-cron.php for abuse (WordPress sites)
• Enable a firewall

6. Unknown Admin Accounts Appear in Your Dashboard

This is a clear sign of compromise. Hackers often create their own admin account so they can return even after you clean the site.

How to Fix It:

• Delete all suspicious accounts immediately
• Reset all passwords
• Enable two-factor authentication
• Check your database’s “users” table for hidden entries

In WordPress, some hackers hide admin accounts with “0-privilege tricks,” so always check the database directly.

7. Unknown Files in Your Server or File Manager

If you find files with strange names like:

• shell.php
• mailer.php
• updater-backdoor.php
• wp-ajax.php (fake)
• .ico files that contain PHP code

…your website is likely compromised.

How to Fix It:

• Delete the files after confirming they’re not part of your system
• Compare your CMS core files with original versions
• Scan your site with a malware scanner

8. Your Website Sends Users to Popup Ads or Injected JavaScript

Malicious JavaScript injected into your site can:

• force popup ads
• redirect mobile visitors
• steal cookies
• inject crypto miners
• load external malicious code

Where JavaScript is usually injected:

• header.php or footer.php
• theme files
• database content (posts, options table)
• plugins
• .htaccess

How to Fix It:

• Search for <script> tags with suspicious URLs
• Reset your theme files to original versions
• Remove injected code from your database

9. Your Website’s SEO Rankings Drop Suddenly

SEO is often the first thing affected when a site gets hacked. Google immediately notices abnormal behavior like:

• Spam pages
• Japanese keyword injections
• Redirects
• Malicious scripts

Your rankings drop because your domain becomes unsafe in the eyes of search engines.

How to Fix It:

• Review Search Console for warnings
• Identify spam URLs indexed by Google
• Clean all injected SEO spam
• Request URL removal from Google

10. Users Report Strange Activity or Browser Warnings

Sometimes your visitors detect issues before you do. They may see:

• Fake antivirus popups
• Red browser warnings
• HTTPS errors
• Forced downloads

Browsers like Chrome and Firefox have strict security systems that detect malicious behavior.

How to Fix It:

• Run a full malware scan on your site
• Check for mixed content (HTTPS issues)
• Replace modified JS or CSS files

Bonus: How to Fix a Hacked Website Properly (Full Recovery Steps)

If you confirmed your site is hacked, here’s a clean, reliable recovery process:

1. Take the site offline temporarily

This prevents further damage and protects visitors.

2. Backup your site before cleaning

So you can compare changes.

3. Scan everything

• Files
• Database
• Plugins
• Themes

4. Remove all unknown files

5. Replace core CMS files from official sources

6. Reset all passwords

7. Update everything

8. Harden your site

• Enable 2FA
• Limit login attempts
• Install a firewall
• Disable XML-RPC
• Secure file permissions

9. Request Google security review

10. Monitor your site for the next 30 days

For professional cleanup or penetration testing, you can always reach the security team at
Codeila.

Final Thoughts

A hacked website isn’t just a technical problem – it’s a business problem. It affects trust, performance, SEO, reputation, and revenue. The earlier you detect the signs of an attack, the easier it is to contain the damage.

The good news? Most breaches are preventable with regular updates, strong passwords, a firewall, and occasional security audits.

If you’re unsure whether your website has been hacked – or if you’ve confirmed it but don’t know how to fix it – you can get expert help from
Codeila’s Security Team.
We specialize in malware removal, website recovery, and penetration testing.

You don’t have to deal with a hacked website alone.