Website owners and businesses are experiencing an alarming increase in security breaches. Every day, millions of cyber-attacks occur worldwide; unauthorized individuals are gaining access to their websites and causing valuable data at risk.
Whether you run a large e-commerce store, a local community forum, or a small personal blog, there is always the threat of site hacking looming over all websites. Attackers may attempt to ruin your website, inject malicious software, steal sensitive information, or delete important content from your server.
People always wonder how they know if their WordPress site has been hacked. There are signals that indicate that your site is hacked or attacked by malware.
In this post, we’ll mention the 8 most common warning signs that will help you to figure out that your WordPress security is compromised.
You can also perform some regular tasks to keep your site protected and running all the time. Refer to our blog- “critical WordPress maintenance tasks to perform regularly”. By taking the right action at the right time, you can protect your website’s online presence from any severe damage.
8 top warning signs that show that your WordPress website is hacked
Let’s quickly check out these signs-
1. Trouble logging into your account
If you are unable to log in to your site, it could be the first sign that your WordPress site has been hacked. The hacker must have tried to delete your admin account files. You may have to reset your password to access your account.
In such events, there are alternative methods to regain access to your account. One alternative is to seek assistance from a reputable hosting company. They can help you restore your account and regain control over your WordPress site.
2. A sudden drop in traffic is a sign of a malware attack
If you notice that fewer people are visiting your website all of a sudden, it could mean that your WordPress site has been hacked. This means that someone bad has gotten into your website and is causing problems.
Sometimes, hackers can make your website go to a different place or send bad emails. This can make search engines not like your website anymore and blacklist it. To fix this, you should check your sites on your Google Search Console account to find if there are any malware and malicious code.
3. Bad stuff added to your site
Sometimes, hackers can sneak into your WordPress website and change things without you knowing.
They can do this by putting secret doors called backdoors. These backdoors let them get into your website and modify things like the words and pictures.
They might even add links to bad websites on your website. Even if you delete these links, they might come back.
To fix this, you need to scan your website for malware and malicious code. To prevent unauthorized access, you should quickly change your account password and enable two-factor authentication.
4. Suspicious action in your server log
To fix this, you should check your website often to see strange activities happening there. You should also make sure your website is up to date and has the latest protections against hackers. Additionally, if you use site security plugins like Sucuri, you will get alerts when it finds suspicious scripts and code in your server.
5. If your site becomes slow or unresponsive
All websites can become the target of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Services) attacks. Hackers use many computers from different locations using fake Ip addresses and make it harder to stop them. They send too many requests or try to break into the website.
When your site becomes the victim of this, it becomes slow, doesn’t work well, or might not work at all. The website owner should check the server logs to find out which computers are causing the problem.
They can block those computers, but keep in mind, it might not always help if there are too many or if the attackers keep changing their computers.
6. When your website redirects to another page
If your website is taking you to a different page, it might mean that attackers have taken over your website. The hackers do this to send your visitors to a phishing website, to distribute malware, or to advertise their own products or services.
This problem can be resolved if you check your website’s .htaccess file to see if there are any suspicious redirects. Also, check your site for suspicious stuff and take it out.
7. Not able to send and receive WordPress emails
If you are experiencing difficulties in sending or receiving emails from your WordPress site, it could be a sign that your mail server or WordPress site is hacked and is being used to send out spam emails.
8. Too many pop-up ads on your website
Too many pop-ups on a site are very common signs that show that your site is hacked. These hacks usually aim to generate income by taking control of your website’s traffic and displaying their own spam advertisements.
These pop-up ads are designed to be invisible to logged-in visitors or those who directly access your website. They specifically focus on users who directly land on your site through search engines. These types of ads open in new windows and go unnoticed by users.
