Website flagged or hacked: what to do now
A Google warning, a strange redirect or an unknown admin account usually means someone is misusing your website. Act today, in this order.
- Call whoever manages your website (agency, developer or host). Ask them to keep a copy of the current state for investigation, then clean the site: unknown files, plugins, admin accounts, redirects and scheduled tasks.
- From a clean computer, change the passwords of the website admin, hosting, domain registrar and email accounts, and turn on two-step sign-in.
- Update the website software, its theme and plugins, and remove what you do not use.
- When the site is clean, request a review in Google Search Console (Security issues). The warning usually goes away a few days after a successful review.
- If customer personal data may have been exposed, you may have to notify your data protection authority within 72 hours (GDPR, article 33) and tell the people affected.
- Write down what you saw, when, and what was done: your insurer or a client may ask.
Free help: Google Search Console security issues · Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr · CIRCL (Luxembourg) · CNIL
Fmind Cyber AI observes your website from outside and cannot clean it or confirm a compromise; these steps are general advice.