When your site gets hacked (infected with malware) and blacklisted by Google you realise you need a fix fast , plus how to secure your site to stop it happening again. Here is what to do once your site gets blacklisted
THE HARD WAY
01
BACKUP YOUR WEBSITE
This is essential !. Especially as this might be your teams first attempt at fixing a hacked website – which means a good chance of breaking your website. Backup all the files of your website and do a full database backup. Stores these files on a different server than your current website (just in case the hacker returns mid fix and deletes all your files).
02
CHECK YOUR FILES FOR MALWARE
Get access to all the files on your website. Work through each file looking for the malicious code left there by the hacker. We find the average hacked site has about 50 to a 100 files adjusted by the hacker. Some of these are new files uploaded by the hacker, some are were they have adjusted your existing files.
03
REMOVE THE AFFECTED FILES
For each hacked file found remove the malware. Be careful with the existing files on your website that the hacker has updated, ensure you don’t break those files else you could stop your website from working. Remember some parts of your site you can fully replace with a fresh installation.
04
REPLACE PARTS WITH FRESH
If you are using a CMS or Forum (Joomla, WordPress, SMF, osCommerce, etc) replace any directories that are standard and contain no custom modifications.
05
UPGRADE TO LATEST VERSIONS
If you are using a CMS or Forum (Joomla, WordPress, SMF, osCommerce, etc), update it to the latest version asap. Also ensure you upgrade all themes and plugins.
06
SECURE YOUR WEBSITE
Read up quick about how to run a secure website. For example correct permissions on files and directories,etc.
07
GOOGLE WEBMASTER TOOL
Login on Google at: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ (create an account if needed). Add your site to the Google web master tool and follow their instructions for them to recheck your website to see if they can un-blacklist it.
MY WEBSITE HACKED WHAT TO DO ? – HAVE OUR TOP TIPS HELPED ?
I hope these critical steps to take once your site has been hacked helps with that question no one wants to have to ask ‘my website hacked what to do ?’. We hope you choose our service instead of going through the pain of trying to fix it yourself and also take advantage of our service to protect your website from being hacked again. BUT If you do decide to do it yourself (DIY) and our tips have not been enough to guide your through these shark infested waters then please still feel free to contact us for free advice on fixing your hacked website.
I hope our recommended steps help you understand what to do when your site gets blacklisted .Here is some extra info about the warnings you will get a warning when visiting a blacklisted site (if you are using Chrome, IE, Firefox or Safari):
Warning: Visiting this site may harm your computer!
The website at www.xxx.com contains elements from the site xyz.com, which appears to host malware – software that can hurt your computer or otherwise operate without your consent. Just visiting a site that contains malware can infect your computer.
Inside GWT (Google’s webmaster tool), it will also give you the details:
Dear site owner or webmaster of site.com,
We recently discovered that some of your pages can cause users to be infected with malicious software. We have begun showing a warning page to users who visit these pages by clicking a search result on Google.com.Below is an example URL on your site which can cause users to be infected (space inserted to prevent accidental clicking in case your mail client auto-links URLs…
Once you’ve secured your site, you can request that the warning be removed by visiting
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=45432
and requesting a review. If your site is no longer harmful to users, we will remove the warning.Sincerely,
Google Search Quality Team
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