WordPress, being one of the most used website platforms, will continue to be a target for hacking and spamming.
Restoring your website from a hack can be overwhelming and needs a massive amount of effort and patience in addition to a significant budget – if you don’t have a recovery plan already in place. You have to deal with getting your website back to a good working state as well as do all you can to prevent future attacks.
Check with your website hosting provider because the hack may have affected more than just your site. They can also confirm the manner of the hack, whether it is an actual hack or just a loss of service.
It is important to find out whether you have plugin, theme or core files hacked. If you’re not using a plugin that automatically performs repairs, then you’ll need to figure out which files need to be replaced.
Target the problem
Finding and removing the hack will be easier after the type of the hack is identified.
You can change your password and change all access point logins, create a backup of what is left and restore the latest backup you created before the hack, but finding the hack is the most tedious step you need to take for your website to recover after the attack.
Don’t let it happen again…
Technical knowledge and understanding of the different website hacks are needed to be able to find the hack and remove it from the system.
You also need to be knowledgeable about the various types of hacking red flags and their effects on your website and its visitors. Closing out all vulnerabilities that the hacker has used and left behind for further attacks on your site is essential to prevent future unwanted logins.
The potential cost of website restoration can be enormous!
If you are a typical business owner you probably have neither the skill nor the time for a website recovery mission after being hacked. Having recognised that, you also need to ask yourself if you have the budget to pay a professional to do it for you.
We recently saw a situation where only the files and images were recoverable after an attack and it took 40 hours to rebuild the site and to add back all the complex styling that this particular site had. It was like doing a 5,000-word jigsaw puzzle without a picture to guide you!
Cost-effective insurance
If your hosting or website maintenance plan includes offsite, full backups, updates to themes, WordPress and plugins, along with 24/7 monitoring for malware and intrusion, then your recovery costs will be very low or even free – free if you have our Digital Defence Hosting & Maintenance Program
Don’t get caught unawares – make sure your website is easily recovered if disaster strikes.