Our blog got hacked. Frantically we called our web host. Luckily they were able to restore us from a backup they had. I must admit (sheepishly), I wasn’t doing backups as I should. In fact they responded very quickly and restored us without charging us extra.

Many hosts charge $50 or more and that is also if they have a backup. We had signed up with them because they had the best deal on hosting, and frankly I didn’t expect them to be so responsive. I was pleasantly surprised. I would like to share the lessons I learnt. They may help you avoid a similar situation.

1. Have more complex passwords and user ID’s.
2. Backup regularly.
3. Learn how to restore from backups
4. Call and email your host immediately if you get hacked. You need your host on your side.
5. While you are going about restoration, upload a plain index .htm file to your root with the text ‘System Down for maintenance’.
6. Once restored, immediately change your blog’s admin password as well as control panel / FTP passwords.
7. Visually go through your directories and see if anything seems strange.
8. There are a few other tools that can help keep you safe namely:
1. WP security scan Plugin
2. Login Lockdown
3. WordPress firewall
9. If you think you may not remember to backup regularly, find a host that does. Or, use an online backup service.
10. Say a prayer or two.

Despite all your precautions, someone still may get through but if you have good backups, you will be able to recover.

If you would like to add to this thread, please do so at:

http://bloggerkhan.com/my-blog-got-hacked-what-do-i-do-now/27

Blogger at http://bloggerkhan.com and author of ‘Long John Twitter’