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Cyber Attack Incident Response

What Should I Do If My Website Is Hacked?

What to do if your website is the victim of a hack?

Ideally, to ensure this doesn’t happen or to mitigate fallout, you should be stopping new malware attacks before they reach your site by:
• Scanning and monitoring your site for malware.
• Fixing existing malware or hack issues fast.

However, the above is a question that we are constantly asked by our clients.

A typical example is where your site has been spammed or a third party has been able to access the files and deposit Malware.

Well, depending on the type of problem and the extent of the damage done, this could be an easy fix by you or your hosting company (who sometimes have a clean up product or service for an additional fee), or you may need to call a specialist response and remediation company such as us here at Cyber Security Helpdesk.

If you are well versed in dealing with the backend of your site and have access to the actual data files and if you know all about FTP (File Transfer Protocol), then you can probably do this yourself and “disinfect” or clean up the corrupt / spam files.

If on the other hand you don’t know your FTP from your DDoS, like most business owners, then you will need to call an IT or Data Security specialist.

Some site owners will not know that their site has been spammed or infected with Malware, until either it is too late and their problem involves their entire IT system which has been accessed through the corrupt site. Others who have a decent hosting service, will be notified by their hosting company – we usually advocate using a reputable hosting company who provide such assistance and who can sort out the problem quickly.

A typical message from a reputable Hosting company will read as follows:

[fusion_imageframe image_id=”2086″ style_type=”none” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”none” lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” alt=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://www.cybersecurityhelpdesk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Grab-Malware-Message.png[/fusion_imageframe]

Once it is fixed, to prevent future infections, be sure to follow these simple post clean-up instructions:

1) Change all admin passwords associated with the site (FTP, admin panel, cpanel, etc)
2) Be sure to keep all software (plugins, theme, CMS) up to date
3) Run an anti-virus scan on your laptop/workstation
4) Put your website behind a firewall
5) If you have any old/backup versions of the website on the server it’s best to remove them

If your site has been hacked or you are a victim of a Cyber Security Incident and you need a rapid response company, then DON’T DELAY AND CALL US TODAY:

EMERGENCY HOTLINE: 0800-22-CYBER (0800-222-9237)
EMAIL: [email protected]