Recover Your Website from a Hacked Incident

How to Clean and Secure Your Hacked WordPress Site

Has your WordPress site been hacked? 😱 Don't panic – with the right approach, you can CLEAN your site and SECURE it against future attacks. As experts in WordPress SECURITY, we've helped thousands of site owners recover from hacks. Here's our step-by-step guide to cleaning and protecting your WordPress site.

Step 1: Confirm Your Site is Hacked

Before taking any action, you need to CONFIRM if your site has actually been hacked. Some common signs of a WordPress hack include:

• Unexpected redirects to SPAM sites
• New ADMIN users you didn't create
• Strange CODE or content on your pages
• Slow SITE performance
• Google WARNINGS about malware

However, the only definitive way to detect a hack is to perform a DEEP malware scan of your entire site. A quality WordPress SECURITY plugin can scan your files, database, and core WordPress files to identify any MALICIOUS code.

Step 2: Clean Your Hacked WordPress Site

Once you've confirmed your site is hacked, you need to REMOVE the malware as quickly as possible. Here are the key steps:

1. BACKUP your site files and database (in case anything goes wrong during cleanup)
2. Use a REPUTABLE WordPress SECURITY plugin to automatically detect and REMOVE malware
3. Manually check core WordPress files, themes, and plugins for any remaining SUSPICIOUS code
4. CHANGE all passwords – WordPress ADMIN, FTP, database, hosting account, etc.
5. REMOVE any suspicious ADMIN users or plugins you didn't install
6. UPDATE WordPress core, all themes, and all plugins to the latest versions
7. RE-SCAN your site to confirm all malware has been removed

Step 3: Secure Your Site Against Future Attacks

After cleaning your site, it's CRITICAL to improve your SECURITY to prevent future hacks:

• Install a WordPress FIREWALL to block MALICIOUS traffic
• Enable TWO-FACTOR authentication for all ADMIN accounts
• Use STRONG, unique passwords and a PASSWORD MANAGER
• Keep WordPress core, themes, and plugins UPDATED automatically
• REMOVE any unused themes or plugins
• LIMIT login attempts to prevent BRUTE FORCE attacks
• CHANGE your WordPress database PREFIX
• DISABLE PHP file execution in certain directories
• MONITOR your site regularly for any SUSPICIOUS activity

Step 4: Ongoing WordPress Security Best Practices

To keep your site SECURE long-term:

• Perform REGULAR malware scans (at least WEEKLY)
• Keep BACKUPS of your site and store them SECURELY off-site
• Use HTTPS/SSL encryption site-wide
• Choose a SECURE, WordPress-optimized HOSTING provider
• EDUCATE yourself and your team on WordPress SECURITY best practices
• Consider a MANAGED WordPress SECURITY service for ongoing protection

Take Action to Protect Your WordPress Site

While getting hacked can be STRESSFUL, with the right approach you can CLEAN your site and make it more SECURE than ever. By following the steps above and implementing ongoing SECURITY best practices, you can PROTECT your WordPress site against future attacks.

Our WordPress FIREWALL and SECURITY plugin provides comprehensive protection against hacks, malware, and other THREATS. With features like malware SCANNING, automatic malware REMOVAL, login PROTECTION, and an advanced FIREWALL, we can help keep your WordPress site SECURE 24/7.

Don't wait until your site gets hacked – TAKE ACTION now to protect your WordPress site. Install our SECURITY plugin today for peace of mind knowing your site is DEFENDED against the latest WordPress THREATS.

URL: https://my.wp-firewall.com/buy/wp-firewall-free-plan/

#WordPressSecurity #MalwareProtection