A website hack it’s big trouble. It takes time and money to resolve a hacked website.

Some signs will help you determine if your site has been compromised.

Website Hack: Signs That Your Site Hacked

Here are some common warning signs that can help you to find if your site has been hacked or not.

1. Your Homepage Changed

If you’ve noticed any unusual changes to your homepage, it’s a sign that your site has been hacked.

Even small details like font size or text color can be a hack sign. So keep an eye out for anything unusual.

Also, many hackers sometimes take credit for their attack by updating your home page with information about themselves.

So if you notice something new on your homepage, it’s important to investigate further. (before clicking any links within it!)

Look for inconsistencies (presentation and format).

The changes could be subtle, such as a missing headline on an image link on page two of your home page that’s now showing up as a blank space.

Or they could be annoying to visitors, like seeing your credit card has expired messages when they try to purchase from your online store.

Hackers can destroy your business if you don’t take action. You need to find if they have hacked any part of your website.

2. Your Website Is Slower

If your website is slower, takes longer to load, or looks different, it’s a sign your site has been hacked.

A decline in page load speed could indicate that something malicious has been added to your code or indicate performance issues with your server or local internet connection.

If you suspect something malicious might be going on, contact an expert immediately. Some attacks may not be immediately apparent.

Some hackers can hide their presence for weeks before you notice an issue.

But if you notice performance issues, don’t ignore them. It could cost you money and trouble.

3. Your Website Has Spam Popups Ads

A common side effect of a hacked website is that someone else (Hacker) will have control over your content.

You may start to see spam pop-ups or other types of advertisements you don’t want to show up on your site.

If you find spam ads on your website, check right away to make sure you haven’t been hacked.

You can use a website security tool or reach your hosting provider for help.

4. Decrease in Website Traffic

If your website traffic has dropped dramatically or search engine rankings are not good, you might have been hacked.

Check your website’s analytics for more information.

If Google Analytics shows a decrease in page views, search queries, and time spent on site (increase bounce rate), someone maybe hack into your site and steal traffic.

If you suspect that you’ve been hacked, contact your web hosting company immediately to fix the problem.

They can perform an emergency audit of your security system, restore any backups of your website content, and check if any malicious code is on your site.

5. Unknown Files

If you find unknown files, then these files are probably a red flag.

Check your file structure frequently and if something does not look good, contact your web hosting company immediately.

You can often ask them to restore everything to its original state before any damage was done.

6. New Unknown Users

If you notice new people or unknown users accessing your website, your website may have been hacked.

Beware of new users who are registering with all-caps names, random strings of numbers and letters, or no name at all.

If something seems off about a user account, don’t register it as an administrator. This would give a hacker access to your entire site.

Delete any suspicious accounts as soon as possible.

7. Admin Accounts

Hackers often try to create admin accounts on a site they’ve compromised. You have to remove those users from your site’s administration panel.

Your host will have a specific page for resetting passwords. Also, you can contact their support team and ask them for instructions.

If any of your existing admins had weak passwords force them to change their credentials right away.

Last Tip

If you have a WordPress site, the good news is that most WordPress vulnerabilities are discovered and patched before hackers find them.

You can protect your website against hackers by keeping WordPress core and your plugin and themes updated.

It’s the best way to ensure you are receiving the latest security patches.