#NoHacked 3.0: How do I know if my site is hacked?
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Friday, December 08, 2017
Last week #NoHacked is back on our
G+ and
Twitter channels! #NoHacked is
our social campaign which aims to bring awareness about hacking attacks and offer tips on how to
keep your sites safe from hackers. This time we would like to start sharing content from #NoHacked
campaign on this blog in your local language!
Why do sites get hacked? Hackers have
different motives for compromising a website,
and hack attacks can be very different, so they are not always easily detected. Here are some tips
which will help you in detecting hacked sites!
Getting started:
Start with our guide "How do I know if my site is hacked?" if you've received a security alert
from Google or another party.
This guide
will walk you through basic steps to check for any signs of
compromises on your site.
Understand the alert on Google Search:
At Google, we have different processes to deal with hacking scenarios. Scanning tools will often
detect malware, but they can miss some spamming hacks. A clean verdict from Safe Browsing does
not mean that you haven't been hacked to distribute spam.
If you ever see
"This site may be hacked",
your site may have been hacked to display spam. Essentially, your site has been hijacked to
serve some advertising.
If you see
"This site may harm your computer"
beneath the site URL then we think the site you're about to visit might allow programs to
install malicious software on your computer.
If you see a big red screen before your site, that can mean a
variety of things:
If you see "The site ahead contains malware", Google has detected that your site
distributes malware.
If you see "The site ahead contains harmful programs", then the site has been flagged
for distributing
unwanted software.
"Deceptive site ahead" warnings indicate that your site may be serving
phishing or social engineering.
Your site could have been hacked to do any of these things.
Malvertising vs Hack:
Malvertising happens when your site loads a bad ad. It may make it seem as though your site
has been hacked, perhaps by redirecting your visitors, but in fact is just an ad behaving
badly.
Open redirects: check if your site is enabling open redirects
Hackers might want to take advantage of a good site to mask their URLs. One way they do this
is by using open redirects, which allow them to use your site to redirect users to any URL of
their choice. You can read more about
unvalidated redirects and forwards.
Mobile check: make sure to view your site from a mobile browser in incognito mode.
Check for bad mobile ad networks.
Sometimes bad content like ads or other third-party elements
unknowingly redirect mobile users.
This behavior can easily escape detection because it's only visible from certain browsers. Be
sure to check that the mobile and desktop versions of your site show the same content.
Use Search Console and get message:
Search Console is a tool that Google uses to communicate with you about your website. It also
includes many other tools that can help you improve and manage your website. Make sure you have
your site
verified in Search Console
even if you aren't a primary developer on your site. The alerts and messages in Search Console
will let you know if Google has detected any critical errors on your site.
If you're still unable to find any signs of a hack, ask a security expert or post on
our Webmaster Help Forums
for a second look.
The #NoHacked campaign will run for the next 3 weeks. Follow us on our
G+ and
Twitter channels or look out for
the content in this blog as we will be posting summary for each week right here at the beginning
of each week! Stay safe meanwhile!
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle's #NoHacked campaign aims to raise awareness about website security and offer tips to protect sites from hacking.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis post provides guidance on identifying hacked websites, including recognizing Google Search security alerts and common hacking tactics.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWebsite owners should check for malware, spam, unwanted software, phishing attempts, and malicious redirects, using Google Search Console and mobile browsing for comprehensive detection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe #NoHacked campaign will continue for three weeks with updates and information shared on Google's social media channels and this blog.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The #NoHacked campaign aims to educate users on detecting website hacks. Key actions include checking for security alerts, understanding Google Search warnings like \"This site may be hacked,\" and recognizing malware, unwanted software, and phishing indicators. The guide advises checking for open redirects, mobile-specific issues, and malvertising. Utilizing Google Search Console alerts and forums for assistance is recommended. The campaign encourages staying updated via their G+ and Twitter channels.\n"],null,["# #NoHacked 3.0: How do I know if my site is hacked?\n\nFriday, December 08, 2017\n\n\nLast week #NoHacked is back on our\n[G+](https://plus.google.com/+GoogleWebmasters) and\n[Twitter](https://twitter.com/googlesearchc) channels! #NoHacked is\nour social campaign which aims to bring awareness about hacking attacks and offer tips on how to\nkeep your sites safe from hackers. This time we would like to start sharing content from #NoHacked\ncampaign on this blog in your local language!\n\n\nWhy do sites get hacked? Hackers have\n[different motives for compromising a website](/web/fundamentals/security/hacked/FAQs_for_hacked_sites),\nand hack attacks can be very different, so they are not always easily detected. Here are some tips\nwhich will help you in detecting hacked sites!\n\n- **Getting started:**\n\n\n Start with our guide \"How do I know if my site is hacked?\" if you've received a security alert\n from Google or another party.\n [This guide](/web/fundamentals/security/hacked/how_do_I_know_if_site_hacked)\n will walk you through basic steps to check for any signs of\n compromises on your site.\n- **Understand the alert on Google Search:**\n\n\n At Google, we have different processes to deal with hacking scenarios. Scanning tools will often\n detect malware, but they can miss some spamming hacks. A clean verdict from Safe Browsing does\n not mean that you haven't been hacked to distribute spam.\n - If you ever see [\"This site may be hacked\"](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/190597), your site may have been hacked to display spam. Essentially, your site has been hijacked to serve some advertising.\n - If you see [\"This site may harm your computer\"](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/45449) beneath the site URL then we think the site you're about to visit might allow programs to install malicious software on your computer.\n - If you see a big red screen before your site, that can mean a [variety of things](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/99020):\n - If you see \"The site ahead contains malware\", Google has detected that your site distributes [malware](/search/docs/monitor-debug/security/malware).\n - If you see \"The site ahead contains harmful programs\", then the site has been flagged for distributing [unwanted software](https://www.google.com/about/unwanted-software-policy.html).\n - \"Deceptive site ahead\" warnings indicate that your site may be serving [phishing or social engineering](/search/docs/monitor-debug/security/social-engineering). Your site could have been hacked to do any of these things.\n- **Malvertising vs Hack:**\n\n\n Malvertising happens when your site loads a bad ad. It may make it seem as though your site\n has been hacked, perhaps by redirecting your visitors, but in fact is just an ad behaving\n badly.\n- **Open redirects: check if your site is enabling open redirects**\n\n\n Hackers might want to take advantage of a good site to mask their URLs. One way they do this\n is by using open redirects, which allow them to use your site to redirect users to any URL of\n their choice. You can read more about\n [unvalidated redirects and forwards](https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Unvalidated_Redirects_and_Forwards_Cheat_Sheet).\n-\n **Mobile check: make sure to view your site from a mobile browser in incognito mode.\n Check for bad mobile ad networks.**\n\n\n Sometimes bad content like ads or other third-party elements\n [unknowingly redirect mobile users](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6388720).\n This behavior can easily escape detection because it's only visible from certain browsers. Be\n sure to check that the mobile and desktop versions of your site show the same content.\n- **Use Search Console and get message:**\n\n\n Search Console is a tool that Google uses to communicate with you about your website. It also\n includes many other tools that can help you improve and manage your website. Make sure you have\n your site\n [verified in Search Console](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35179)\n even if you aren't a primary developer on your site. The alerts and messages in Search Console\n will let you know if Google has detected any critical errors on your site.\n\n\nIf you're still unable to find any signs of a hack, ask a security expert or post on\n[our Webmaster Help Forums](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community/)\nfor a second look.\n\n\nThe #NoHacked campaign will run for the next 3 weeks. Follow us on our\n[G+](https://plus.google.com/+GoogleWebmasters) and\n[Twitter](https://twitter.com/googlesearchc) channels or look out for\nthe content in this blog as we will be posting summary for each week right here at the beginning\nof each week! Stay safe meanwhile!"]]
