How To Recover A Hacked Website

Your website is running along smoothly until you notice a severe drop in sales and web traffic. You do a quick analysis by searching for your website on Google, but when you click the link, you’re redirected to a warning page that announces the site poses a danger to visitors. The message displayed in the browser means the website has been hacked. Before you panic, here’s a quick checklist to clean the malware, secure your site, and re-establish a position on Google’s search engine.

What Happened?

Several malware applications are spread on the Internet through infected web pages and executable downloads. For instance, the Gumblar virus is spread through PDF documents and Flash pages. These malware applications find passwords hidden on the website owner’s computer and infect his web pages with malicious code. The code can be spread to website visitors’ computers, continuing the spread of malware. The infected website is detected by Google’s search engine spider, and the company provides the warning seen in the user’s browser.

Secure Your Computer

The first step to fix the hacked pages is securing the computers that have access to the website. Most malware programs use client computers to infect website pages. If you clean the pages first, the malware may quickly re-infect them. Google recommends reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system with all the latest security patches. This option is tedious and takes hours to complete. The second best security measure is to download the latest virus definitions for your antivirus software. If you don’t have antivirus software from a trusted source, now is the time to purchase a copy.

Remove the Malware on the Website Pages

Cleaning malware is a difficult task, and it takes a trained eye to catch the offending code. If you don’t understand the coding behind the website, you may need to ask for help from a trained professional. Without an entirely clean website, Google will continue to block your domain from its search results, so it’s imperative that the malware is removed accurately. If pages have not changed, and you believe your backup location is secure, you can restore the website with a previous version from a saved backup. Once the website has been restored, change all passwords for users who have access to the host server.

File a Request for a Review

After the website is cleaned from malware, the website owner needs to file a request for a review from Google. Requesting a review is the quickest method of having the warning removed from the user’s browser. Google drops domains from the index after its spider continuously finds malware, so requesting a review ensures proper replacement in search engine results. Google provides an interface for webmasters to file for a review at google.com/webmasters. The guidelines indicate that it takes a day to review, so as long as your site is repaired, you can have the domain re-established in the search engine quickly.

Prevention

Webmasters who have endured the tedious procedures relating to malware hacks understand the importance of prevention. Prevention is the final step in securing a website. Keep server software up-to-date and install any security hotfixes and patches when they become available. Run antivirus on machines that have access to the web page code and always monitor website traffic and logs for hack attempts.

Once these steps are taken, the most important step is prevention. Using proper prevention techniques, you limit the chance of a hacked website. Read server logs daily to detect any type of hack attempt, keep your antivirus definition files up-to-date, and keep all patches and security updates installed on the server. Preventing another hack on the website saves the business from lost revenue and secures customer information.

The Three Premier No Cost Antivirus Packages

At this point you can’t afford to leave your computer unprotected. Viruses can steal your passwords and lead to having your identity pilfered. Other spyware can use your computer to send out thousands of unsolicited email and get your Internet account canceled. That is nothing to fool around with. You need to have up to date high quality antivirus software on your computer continually. I ran across some information on a free stuff site that will solve the problem.

But what if you can’t afford to pay for a fancy antivirus subscription? What If I told you that you could get the best free antivirus you can get without spending a dime? There are three wonderful free antivirus software packages that will protect your computer as well as or better than the industry standard big name packages.

Why in the World would antivirus publishers give away great antivirus software for no cost? There are at least two reasons. The companies offer a fancier version with more features and they know some customers will upgrade to the fancier versions. The other reason is make a name for themselves so that businesses are more likely to purchase the professional version.

You are most likely wondering if these programs are like the Norton or McAfee programs that may have been installed on your computer where you get the first year gratis and then have to pay to renew. Not at all. All three of the best free antivirus programs are free year after year. There is no guarantee that they will always offer a free version, but it seems to be doing the job for them so I believe they will.

So how do you find out what these fantastic programs are and where to get them? Visit this overview of the best free antivirus and you can read about all of these antivirus products and find out where to get them. Your PC and your personal information will be protected and you will sleep better now that you know you have the best antivirus software and you didn’t have to pay for it.