My blog was hacked! The steps I made to resolve it

Do not leave if you're searching to fix your WordPress blog which was hacked.

When I finally realized, my blog was hacked, one question came into my mind, why would somebody hack my blog?

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Only later that I reacted and made some steps to fix it. So back to my question, why would somebody hack my blog?

I thought my blog doesn’t have any value for these hackers. I wasn’t selling products before and I didn’t have info of my bank accounts hidden on the backend of my blog. One thing I could come up with is, maybe this hacker wanted to prove something like he can do it.

Well, since we have a high-technology now and proving one’s skill and knowledge may sound a bit shallow, perhaps, there’s more to it than proving he can hack a website, a weak and small one.

Based on my research, hackers hack to make a website useless and one of the examples is Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). To know more about this topic, you can read it here.

Some reasons why hackers hack are to steal valuable information like bank accounts or credit cards and money.

Table of Contents

What did I do when my blog was hacked? Have I made some steps to resolve it?

Of course, I did!

I did ask myself first, in such a scenario, I don’t know if it was even a good idea.

So here are the steps to fix a WordPress blog when it was hacked:

1. Stay calm

Like in many situations, life and death, accidents, earthquakes, to start to panic would lead us to nothing.

I could have reacted, ‘‘But it’s my blog, I have spent too much time on it, it’s my hobby, it’s like my baby and soon my business.’’

But no, instead, I wondered why, like I have mentioned above.

Yes, it was hacked, but it’s not yet the end of everything. I have even thought of creating a new blog and accepted the reality that maybe it is not so bad creating a new one if it wouldn’t be recovered.

2. Try logging in

It was hacked Clyde, my subconscious mind shouted at me when I even tried to log in using www.yourwebsite.com/wp-admin panel which was futile.

Of course, I couldn’t log in, and I was denied by my own blog. The weird thing is, it didn’t lead to another website, my blog had only a strange screen.

Prior to my discovery, I have received an email notification that I didn’t read, or I did downright ignore it. Later, when everything went into normal, I checked the email and it even said, ‘‘New user registration on your site What Blogs her mind:….’’

screenshot of the message when my blog was hacked — That's the bad guy.

3. Contact webhost (SiteGround)

What I like the most about SiteGround is its fast and accessible customer’s support. Whenever I had a problem in the past and I couldn’t solve it on my own, I turn to this web host.

When my WordPress blog was hacked, I thought of SiteGround and how they might help me fix itit. Without any hesitation, I contacted my web host and explained my problem. Within minutes, my blog was retrieved.

Here’s the screenshot of the conversation between me and the Siteground staff. I could say that I am satisfied with my web host. Live chat is really a plus and it is very useful for people and for bloggers like me who are not that good with technical stuff.

when my blog was hacked, I contacted my web host Siteground

In case of a very difficult and risky situation which involves your blog or website, and it would be impossible for SiteGround to fix it because:

a.) it is not part of their job anymore or b.) the problem is too complicated that you need experts for it.

Codeable offers a discount if your web host is SiteGround. It is a platform of the best WordPress developers who can work on your WordPress problems.

Last 2018, Codeable announced that they will work together with SiteGround and those who are customers of the said web host will get a discount of $60.

Like you see below, you just need to sign up and create a project. Projects could be your WordPress problem or anything that you need for your WordPress blog or website.

Codeable is another method that helps a blogger when his blog is hacked.

If you have experienced this and you are a bit traumatized from what had occurred to you and your beloved blog, I’m sure you have learned a lot of lessons like me.

Here’s what I learned when my blog was hacked:

1. Don’t neglect your blog

Life’s always in the way and responsibilities are waiting for us but it doesn’t mean forgetting for a while our blog. That has happened to me when I didn’t open and use my blog for how many days until it happened.

2. Don’t upload unsecured themes and plugins

I am not sure if I was to blame if I even uploaded plugins that time, but to be safe and sure, don’t upload unsecured plugins with bad reviews and a low number of downloads, and don’t simply choose an unsecured free theme you found somewhere on the Internet.

Instead, update your existing plugins and your blog from time to time.

3. Change username ‘‘Admin’’

Yes, I am guilty. Some of you still use that username, right? Now’s the time to change it. Use a strong password too. Hackers can simply type the word admin as username and guess type your password.

4. Install plugins which make your website more secure

Many WordPress bloggers and users are familiar with Jetpack. It may painstakingly slow our progress due to its setup process, but once it installed and started running on your blog, you have nothing to worry about. Just let Jetpack scan and attempt malicious activities.

Jetpack helps block malicious activities and getting a blog hacked

Another plugin, free or premium, which helps our blog much safer is Wordfence. Even the free version offers a firewall block to protection from brute force attacks against our blogs.

Another plugin to helps block malicious activities against your blog and getting hacked — Wordfence Security

5. Choose a secure web host

Like I have written above, I am satisfied with my web host, SiteGround and I can only recommend it to every blogger and those who are thinking to start a blog.

According to a post from Hosting.Review, SiteGround is number 1 on the list as one of the top 5 secure web hosting picks. It is recommended for users who are looking for excellent customer support.

Pin it image for the post when my blog was hacked

It may not the end of the world if it happens to you, but there’s no reason to neglect and forget every effort you have exerted and let some bad guy use your blog for his own benefits.

I hope you followed all these steps to avoid getting your WordPress blog hacked like what happened to mine and fix it in no time.

If you have ever experienced it, you can also share what steps did you make to solve it and retrieve your blog. Other bloggers would love to know them as well, I am sure. Just comment and share them down below.