How to Understand that Your Website Has been Hacked

Has my website been hacked? Or is the script is working wrong? Probably, each person who deals with personal website administration has ever asked oneself such a question. It is hard even for an expert to recognize hacking and for an average administrator it is almost an impossible task. It is necessary to mention that a medium-size website comprises 2-3 thousand files and it is impossible to check them manually. You should not only understand software engineering but also study thoroughly each file. It is like looking for a misprint in a book with two thousand pages!

There are some factors indicating that the website has been hacked and the code has been modified:

1. Your website downloads slowly.

2. When your website is being opened, the firewall warns you about a threat.

3. When you try to use some of the modules, the website gives an error message.

4. Your website has stopped to be indexed by search systems.

5. You have noticed new code files, pages or even images that you have not downloaded yourself and they have nothing to do with your website.

6. You have noticed in the administration panel new user accounts with administrator's access.

7. Your customers do not receive email messages sent from you website.

These are the most clearly defined factors indicating website hacking but one should understand that computer technologies permanently develop as well as software, protection systems and with that malware becomes more sophisticated and hacking more ingenious.

As developers of software for website protection we have to be aware of all the new and high technologies of website hacking as well as to monitor your hosting. Very often providers do not update system software and a soft spot in the operating system at their servers may entail your website hacking and loss of data.

Website owners should be especially careful with free CMSs like Joomla, Word Press, Drupal.