Website Security: How to Protect (and Recover) Your Site
Every website and web application is a potential target — whatever it’s built on. The good news: a handful of practices prevent the vast majority of attacks. This guide covers how to secure your site, and what to do if it’s already been hacked.
Key takeaways
- Most hacks are prevented by updates, strong logins and a firewall.
- Tested backups are your safety net if the worst happens.
- If hacked: back up, clean, find the entry point, then harden.
Prevent attacks
- Keep software, frameworks, plugins and dependencies updated
- Strong admin passwords plus two-factor login
- Limit login attempts and protect admin/login URLs
- Use a firewall (WAF) and secure your code
- Keep regular, tested backups
If your site is hacked
Take a backup of the current state, scan and remove the malware, identify how the attacker got in, clean the affected files, then harden the site so it can’t happen again. Rushing the cleanup without finding the entry point usually leads to re-infection.
Stay protected over time
Ongoing updates, monitoring and backups are what keep a site secure long term — which is exactly why they’re bundled into a maintenance plan rather than treated as one-off tasks.
Frequently asked questions
- My site was hacked — what do I do?
- Don’t panic. We clean the infection, restore functionality, find the cause, and harden the site against repeat attacks — on any platform.
- How do I stop my site being hacked?
- Updates, strong logins, a firewall and monitored backups — all included in our maintenance plans.
Related reading & services
- Website & application security
- Website maintenance
- What is cybersecurity?
- Website fixing
- Custom security solutions
- Do you need an admin panel?
- Two-factor authentication for business websites
- WordPress vs custom website
- Website maintenance cost
- SSL certificates explained
- How to fix the "Not secure" warning
- WordPress plugin vulnerabilities explained
- website backup guide
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