WordPress is an incredibly popular platform for building websites, and for good reason. It’s flexible, customizable, and relatively easy to use. However, its popularity also makes it a prime target for hackers. If you’ve landed here, you’re probably in a situation where your WordPress site has been hacked, and you’re feeling a mix of panic, frustration, and helplessness.
Don’t worry. You’re not alone, and you can fix this. This guide will walk you through everything you need to do to fix and repair a hacked WordPress website. We’ll cover identifying the hack, removing the malware, securing your site, and ensuring it doesn’t happen again.
Step 1: Stay Calm and Assess the Situation
The first step when you suspect your WordPress site has been hacked is to stay calm. Panic can lead to hasty decisions that might make things worse. Take a deep breath, and then start by assessing the situation.
How to Know If Your WordPress Site Is Hacked
Sometimes it’s obvious that your site has been hacked—your homepage is replaced with a hacker’s message, or you’re locked out of the admin area. However, there are other, more subtle signs that your site has been compromised:
- Your website is suddenly very slow or unresponsive.
- Unexpected redirects: Visitors are being redirected to strange websites.
- Your site is blacklisted: Google and other search engines flag your site as unsafe.
- New, suspicious user accounts: You notice strange usernames appearing in your list of users.
- File changes: Files on your server have been modified or added without your knowledge.
- Unexplained pop-ups or ads: Ads or pop-ups that you didn’t put there are showing up.
- Spammy content: You find weird posts, pages, or comments on your site.
To verify, you can use tools like Sucuri SiteCheck or Google’s Safe Browsing tool to see if your site has been flagged.
Step 2: Take Your Site Offline
If you’ve confirmed that your site has been hacked, the next step is to take it offline. You don’t want to keep a compromised site running, as it can harm your visitors, your reputation, and your search engine rankings. You can temporarily disable your site by using a maintenance mode plugin or by simply making a backup and then replacing your index.php file with a maintenance page.
If your hosting provider offers an easy way to put your site into maintenance mode, use it. Otherwise, there are plugins like WP Maintenance Mode that can do the trick.
Step 3: Backup Your Site
Before you start fixing anything, make sure you have a backup of your current site. Even though it’s hacked, having a backup can be crucial if something goes wrong during the cleanup process. If you have a regular backup system in place, now’s the time to use it.
If you don’t have a backup system, your hosting provider might offer one. Check with them to see if they have an automated backup of your site from before it was hacked.
Alternatively, you can manually back up your WordPress site using an FTP client like FileZilla. Download all your files from the server, and don’t forget to export your database as well using a tool like phpMyAdmin.
Step 4: Identify the Hack
To fix your site, you need to know what kind of hack you’re dealing with. There are many types of attacks that could affect your WordPress site, including:
- Malware infections
- SQL injections
- Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks
- Brute force attacks
- Backdoors
Scanning for Malware
Start by scanning your site for malware. You can use plugins like Wordfence, MalCare, or iThemes Security. These tools will scan your site for malicious code, altered files, and other signs of a breach.
Wordfence, for example, has a robust scanning feature that compares your core files, themes, and plugins against the WordPress.org repository, which helps you identify any modifications made by hackers.
Check Server Logs
Your server logs can provide valuable insights into how your site was hacked. Check your access logs and error logs for any suspicious activity, such as unusual IP addresses, strange user agents, or a large number of requests to specific files.
Most hosting providers give you access to these logs through their control panel, or you can access them via FTP in the /logs/ directory.
Step 5: Remove the Hack
Once you’ve identified the hack, it’s time to remove it. This step can be tricky, depending on how deep the hack goes. Here’s how to proceed:
Replace Compromised Files
If you’ve identified specific files that have been compromised, replace them with clean versions. Start with the core WordPress files, which you can download from WordPress.org. Simply overwrite your existing core files with fresh copies.
Next, check your theme and plugin files. If any of them have been altered, replace them with clean versions from the theme or plugin repository. Be cautious with custom themes and plugins—if you’ve made customizations, make sure you don’t overwrite your changes.
Clean Up the Database
If the hack has affected your database, you’ll need to clean it up as well. Hackers often inject malicious code into your database, especially in the wp_options, wp_posts, and wp_users tables.
Use a plugin like WP-DBManager or manually go through your database using phpMyAdmin to look for suspicious entries. Look for any strange or unexpected entries and delete them.
Remove Backdoors
A backdoor is a way for the hacker to regain access to your site even after you’ve removed the initial hack. Backdoors can be hidden in various places, including your theme files, plugin directories, or even in the wp-content/uploads directory.
Search for files that shouldn’t be there—like PHP files in the uploads directory—or files with suspicious names. Some hackers use file names that blend in with normal files to avoid detection.
To find backdoors, you can use the Wordfence plugin to scan your site for known backdoor files. However, manual inspection is also recommended.
Step 6: Secure Your Site
After you’ve cleaned up the hack, it’s time to secure your site to prevent it from happening again. Here are the essential steps:
Update Everything
One of the most common ways hackers gain access to WordPress sites is through outdated software. Make sure your WordPress core, themes, and plugins are all up to date. This includes any third-party scripts or tools you might be using.
Outdated themes and plugins are particularly vulnerable, so make sure you’re running the latest versions.
Strengthen Your Passwords
Weak passwords are another common entry point for hackers. Ensure that all user accounts on your site use strong, unique passwords. If you’re unsure about how strong your password is, use a tool like LastPass Password Generator to create a secure one.
Don’t forget to change your database password and any passwords associated with your hosting account as well.
Limit Login Attempts
Brute force attacks are a method hackers use to gain access to your site by guessing your login credentials. You can protect against this by limiting the number of login attempts allowed.
The Limit Login Attempts Reloaded plugin can help with this. It allows you to block an IP address after a certain number of failed login attempts.
Two-Factor Authentication
Adding two-factor authentication (2FA) to your WordPress login process provides an additional layer of security. With 2FA, even if a hacker gets your password, they’ll also need access to your phone or email to complete the login process.
The Two Factor Authentication plugin is a good choice for adding 2FA to your WordPress site.
Set File Permissions
Incorrect file permissions can give hackers easy access to your WordPress files. Make sure your file permissions are set correctly:
- Folders should typically be set to
755. - Files should typically be set to
644. - The wp-config.php file should be set to
600to protect your database credentials.
You can adjust these permissions via FTP or through your hosting control panel.
Disable File Editing
WordPress allows you to edit theme and plugin files directly from the admin dashboard. However, this feature can be dangerous if a hacker gains access to your admin area. To disable this feature, add the following line to your wp-config.php file:
define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);
This simple step can make it much harder for hackers to modify your files.
Step 7: Monitor Your Site
Now that your site is clean and secure, it’s important to keep a close eye on it to ensure it stays that way.
Set Up Regular Scans
Use a security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri Security to set up regular scans of your site. These scans can alert you to any suspicious activity or changes to your files.
Enable Alerts
Many security plugins offer the option to send you alerts when certain activities happen on your site, such as failed login attempts, file changes, or new user registrations. Make sure you enable these alerts so you can respond quickly if something goes wrong.
Regular Backups
Even with all these precautions, there’s always a risk that your site could be hacked again. The best way to protect yourself is to have regular backups that you can restore if something goes wrong.
There are plenty of backup plugins available, such as UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy. Set up automatic backups to run on a regular schedule, and store your backups in a secure location.
Step 8: Restore Confidence
Once you’ve fixed your hacked WordPress site, you need to restore confidence in your visitors and search engines.
Remove Blacklist Warnings
If your site was blacklisted by Google or other search engines, you’ll need to request a review to get the warnings removed. After cleaning your site, use Google Search Console to request a review. Google will then rescan your site, and if it’s clean, they’ll remove the warning.
You can find more information on how to do this in the Google Search Console Help Center.
Communicate with Your Users
If your site was hacked and it impacted your users (for example, if they received phishing emails from your domain or were exposed to malware), it’s important to communicate with them.
Be transparent about what happened, what you’ve done to fix it, and what steps you’re taking to prevent it from happening again. This honesty can go a long way in maintaining trust.
Monitor SEO Impact
A hack can negatively affect your SEO. You might find that your site’s rankings have dropped, or that spammy content has been indexed by search engines. After fixing the hack, monitor your SEO closely using tools like Google Analytics and Ahrefs.
Step 9: Prevent Future Hacks
The final step is to take proactive measures to prevent your WordPress site from being hacked again.
Use a Security Plugin
Installing a security plugin is one of the easiest ways to protect your site from future attacks. Plugins like Wordfence, Sucuri Security, or iThemes Security offer a wide range of features, including firewalls, malware scanning, and login protection.
Regularly Update Your Site
Keeping everything updated is crucial. This includes WordPress core, themes, plugins, and any other software you use. Most updates include security patches for vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers.
Consider enabling automatic updates for minor releases in WordPress, or at least set a reminder to check for updates regularly.
Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF)
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) acts as a barrier between your site and the internet, filtering out malicious traffic before it reaches your site. You can use a service like Cloudflare or Sucuri’s WAF to add this layer of protection.
Regularly Review Your Site’s Security
Make it a habit to regularly review your site’s security settings and logs. This could be a weekly or monthly task, depending on the size and complexity of your site. Look for any suspicious activity and address it immediately.
Educate Yourself and Your Team
Finally, staying informed is one of the best ways to protect your site. Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field, and what worked last year might not be enough today. Follow blogs like Wordfence or Sucuri to stay updated on the latest threats and security best practices.
Conclusion
Dealing with a hacked WordPress site is never fun, but by following the steps outlined in this guide, you can get your site back on track and secure it against future attacks. Remember, the key is to act quickly, thoroughly clean up the hack, and implement strong security measures to prevent it from happening again.
If you ever feel overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to seek help from professionals. There are many services available that specialize in WordPress security and can help you clean up and protect your site.