6 Signs Your Website Is Hacked – And What To Do

Forbes - Mar 16th, 2025

Every day, 30,000 websites globally fall victim to hacking, with small businesses frequently targeted. Consequences can be severe, including data breaches, reputational damage, and ransomware demands. Recovering from a hack involves taking the website offline, resetting passwords, scanning for malware, and potentially restoring from a backup. It's crucial to inform hosting providers, regulators, and users about the incident to comply with laws and maintain trust.

To safeguard against future attacks, regular security audits, monitoring tools, strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and software updates are recommended. Training staff on cybersecurity practices and maintaining frequent backups are essential steps for businesses to ensure resilience against potential threats. These measures not only help in recovery but also fortify defenses against future hacking attempts.

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RATING

6.2

Moderately Fair

Read with skepticism

The article provides a practical guide for identifying and recovering from website hacks, which is a topic of ongoing public interest due to the prevalence of cyber threats. It offers clear and accessible advice, contributing positively to public awareness of cybersecurity. However, its reliance on a single source for key statistics and lack of direct citations or expert opinions limit its credibility and depth. The article could benefit from a more balanced perspective by including broader discussions on the implications of hacking, such as legal and economic consequences. Despite these limitations, it serves as a useful resource for readers seeking to understand and mitigate the risks of website hacking.

Accuracy

The article provides a broad overview of signs and recovery steps for a hacked website, which are generally consistent with common cybersecurity practices. Claims about the frequency of website hacks (30,000 daily) and the targeting of small businesses (more than four in ten) are specific and would benefit from direct citation of the research by Astra. While these statistics align with general industry knowledge, they require verification from primary sources to ensure precision. The article accurately describes common hacking indicators and recovery protocols, which are supported by standard cybersecurity guidelines.

Balance

The article focuses primarily on the technical aspects of identifying and recovering from a website hack, which could lead to an imbalance by not addressing broader perspectives such as the psychological impact on business owners or the economic implications of hacking. It does not explore alternative viewpoints, such as the perspective of cybersecurity experts on emerging threats or the potential legal ramifications for businesses that fail to protect user data. Including such perspectives could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

Clarity

The article is written in clear and accessible language, making it easy for readers to understand the signs of a website hack and the steps for recovery. It is logically structured, with a progression from identifying problems to resolving them, which aids comprehension. The tone is neutral and informative, suitable for a general audience seeking practical advice on cybersecurity.

Source quality

The article references research from Astra but does not provide direct citations or quotes from this or other authoritative sources, which affects the credibility of its claims. The lack of diverse sourcing or expert opinions limits the depth of the article. A more robust article would include insights from cybersecurity professionals or references to studies from well-known cybersecurity organizations, enhancing its reliability and authority.

Transparency

The article lacks transparency regarding its sources and the basis for its claims, such as the specific research from Astra. It does not explain the methodology behind the statistics cited or provide links to original research, which could help readers assess the validity of the information presented. Without clear attribution or explanation of how conclusions were drawn, readers may find it challenging to evaluate the impartiality of the article.