Running a WordPress website can feel like juggling many moving parts—plugins, themes, updates, user roles, and more. Even if you’re diligent about keeping your site up to date, criminals are always looking for vulnerabilities.
When a WordPress site gets hacked, early detection can be the difference between a quick fix and a long, expensive recovery process. In this article, we’ll discuss ten warning signs that may indicate your WordPress site has been compromised, and what you can do to protect yourself.
Unexplained Traffic Spikes or Drops
A sudden surge or drop in traffic—without an obvious cause—could be a red flag. Hackers might direct large volumes of bot traffic to your site to perform malicious activities. Conversely, if Google or other search engines have flagged your site as dangerous, you may see a sharp decrease in legitimate visitors.
What to do:
- Check your analytics platform to identify unusual traffic sources.
- Use a security plugin or a service to detect and block suspicious IP addresses.
New or Modified Admin Accounts
If you notice unfamiliar admin accounts or user roles with unexpected privileges, it’s time to investigate. Cybercriminals often create hidden administrator profiles so they can log in at will.
What to do:
- Review your WordPress user list regularly.
- Immediately remove any unknown admin accounts and update passwords.
- Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) for all admin users.
Strange Pop-Ups or Redirects
If your site starts displaying intrusive pop-ups, spammy ads, or automatically redirects visitors to another website, it could indicate malicious code injection.
What to do:
- Check your theme and plugin files for unauthorised changes.
- Use a reputable malware scanner to locate and remove malicious code.
- Restore a clean backup if the infection is extensive.
Blacklisting or Security Warnings
When search engines like Google detect malware or harmful content on your site, they may blacklist your domain. Visitors will see warnings such as “This site may harm your computer” or “Deceptive site ahead.”
What to do:
- Use Google Search Console or similar webmaster tools to see if your site is flagged.
- Clean up your site to remove malicious code, then request a review from the search engine to lift the warning.
Defaced or Altered Content
A clear indication of a hack is when your site’s homepage is replaced or vandalised with messages or images you didn’t authorise. In other cases, you may notice small changes in text, links, or images that direct visitors to malicious websites.
What to do:
- Revert any suspicious content to its original state using backups or a version control system (if available).
- Change all user passwords and ensure your core WordPress files match the official versions.
Suspicious Files on Your Server
Hackers often upload files that act as backdoors to your server, giving them continued access. Look out for unknown PHP or .htaccess files in your uploads folder or root directory.
What to do:
- Regularly scan your site’s files using a security plugin or Spidrweb’s advanced file integrity monitoring.
- Quarantine suspicious files and remove them safely.
- Tighten file permissions on your server to prevent future unauthorised uploads.
Slow Performance or High Server Resource Usage
Malware can strain your server by sending spam emails, mining cryptocurrency, or running other resource-heavy processes. If your site has become noticeably sluggish or your host notifies you about abnormal CPU and memory usage, it could be a sign of a compromise.
What to do:
- Contact your hosting provider to check server logs for suspicious activity.
- Install performance monitoring tools to identify unusual spikes.
- Use caching, CDNs, and security solutions to mitigate malicious traffic.
Emails from Your Site That You Didn’t Send
If your site’s email system has been hijacked, you might receive bounced emails or complaints from recipients about spam they never subscribed to. This often occurs when hackers insert scripts to send out bulk spam emails.
What to do:
- Review your outgoing mail logs for suspicious activity.
- Reset email account passwords and update your SMTP or transactional email plugins.
- Install an email logging plugin to track future outgoing messages.
Inability to Log In or Locked-Out Admins
If hackers have taken control of your WordPress site, you might find yourself locked out entirely. Error messages, changed passwords, or disabled admin accounts are big warning signs that someone else is in control.
What to do:
- Try resetting your password from the WordPress login screen.
- If that fails, access your database via phpMyAdmin or use your hosting control panel to update admin credentials.
- Immediately investigate how the attackers gained entry and patch any vulnerabilities.
Unexpected Plugin or Theme Changes
Even legitimate themes and plugins can be compromised if not kept up to date. A hacker might modify them to include backdoors, malicious scripts, or links to phishing pages.
What to do:
- Keep all themes and plugins updated to the latest versions.
- Remove inactive or outdated plugins and themes.
- Use tools that monitor file integrity to detect and restore changed core files.
Protecting Your WordPress Site with Spidrweb
At Spidrweb, we specialise in comprehensive WordPress security solutions—from proactive site monitoring to real-time malware scanning and removal. Here’s how you can further safeguard your site:
- Regular Backups: Always maintain updated backups of your site. Consider automatic daily backups that store copies off-site.
- Security Plugins: Use trusted security plugins that include firewall protection, file integrity checks, and brute-force attack mitigation.
- Strong Credentials: Implement strong passwords (with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols) and enable MFA for all users.
- Least Privilege Principle: Assign the lowest user role needed for each user. Admin privileges should be reserved only for essential accounts.
- Ongoing Monitoring: Keep an eye on your server logs, Google Search Console, and analytics data to catch unusual patterns early.
A hacked WordPress site can lead to loss of revenue, damage to your reputation, and compromised visitor data. Being vigilant and knowing the warning signs are crucial steps in protecting your digital assets. If you suspect your site has been compromised—or if you simply want peace of mind—contact us to learn how our WordPress security solutions can help you stay one step ahead of cyber threats.