Finding out that your GoDaddy site has been hacked is a nightmare. You must be frustrated but luckily there is a fix to this issue but you need to act fast.

Once a website is hacked, hackers use your site for all sorts of malicious activities such as sending spam mails to your customers (if they don’t have spam filters) and stealing sensitive data. They damage your website and put your business at risk. You need to act fast to fix it.

We’ve come across many clients who had a tough time using different hack-repair methods that just didn’t work. By taking a long time to fix your site, hackers get more time to carry out their malicious acts.

But you don’t have to worry. We’ll show you an effective way of fixing your hacked GoDaddy hosted site and restoring it to normal. Moreover, we’ll take you through preventive measures that you can take to protect your site from further hack attacks.

TL;DR – You can fix your hacked GoDaddy site in a matter of minutes. Install MalCare on your site to scan and clean your website. It’s automated process will restore your site to normal quickly. Not just that, the plugin will continue to protect your site with its WordPress firewall and scanner.

Before we go about cleaning your hacked site, we need to be completely sure that it’s hacked. Let’s check is your WordPress website hacked.

Signs Your Godaddy Website Has Been Hacked

You may be using a security plugin that is alerting you that your site is hacked, or you may see your site malfunctioning and assume it’s hacked. But many times, there are false alarms which generate unnecessary panic and stress. So before we go to the cleaning section, let’s take a quick look at the signs of a hacked site:

1. 1. You’ve received a notice of malware present on your site and your GoDaddy account is suspended.
   2. GoDaddy web hosting has sent you a notice that you’ve consumed too much of your server resources.
   3. Google displays a warning that your site contains malware.
   4. Your website pages are displaying content that is not yours.
   5. Website ranks for spam keywords on Google such as ‘cheap Gucci bags’ or ‘Buy viagra online.’
   6. Your site’s performance and speed have suddenly become slow.
   7. Your site is redirecting to another unknown website.
   8. There are strange ads on your website.
   9. Your hard drive or computer is infected. This could infect your website as well.
   10. Your customers are complaining of spam emails being sent from your website.
   11. You notice differences on your WordPress dashboard such as new users or plugins and themes added.

If you’ve noticed these signs on your website, you need to scan it immediately to find the infection.

How to Scan A Hacked GoDaddy Website?

There are two ways to scan your website for malware – manually and using a plugin.

The manual method is tedious and time-consuming. You need to access your WordPress files and database and then manually search for the malicious code. This method is very risky as a slight misstep can break your website.

As we mentioned earlier, we’ll go straight to using an effective method that’s fast and efficient – a WordPress Security Plugin.

Now, there are many WordPress malware scanners available in the market including one offered by GoDaddy. But not every scanner can find all types and traces of malware. We recommend using the MalCare’s WordPress malware scanner. In the next section, we’ll show you why.

Why Choose MalCare to Scan Your WordPress Site?

Find Any Kind Of Malware

While there are many scanners available, most rely on outdated technology that just doesn’t work anymore. For starters, they use a method called pattern and signature matching. In this method, the scanner has a list of code that is known to be malicious. It scans the code of your website to see if it matches any code on the list.

The problem with this method is that if there is new malware on your site, it won’t be caught by the scanner. Hackers also know how to hide and disguise their code well, so many times, these scanners will prompt you that your site is clean when it’s really hacked.

You need a scanner that is built on the latest technology and doesn’t rely on outdated methods. MalCare uses over 100+ intelligent signals to locate malware. It analyses the behavior of code on your site and can thus determine if it’s malicious or not. If there is malware on your site, regardless of whether it’s new, hidden or disguised, MalCare will find it.

Run a Deep Scan Of Your Site

Earlier WordPress websites were made up of just a few files and folders. Hackers were limited in where they could place their malware. A malware scanner had to check just a few files and folders where malware was usually found.

But as WordPress has advanced, sites are now made up of tons of files and folders. Hackers have more options in where they can place their malicious code. Plus, they tend to infect multiple files and folders. Surface scans just don’t cut it anymore. A scanner needs to do a deep scan of your website in order to locate all instances of malware.

MalCare will run a complete and thorough scan of your WordPress site. It checks every file, folder, and database of your website.

Automated Process

Many of these scanners aren’t automated. GoDaddy also offers a Website Security plan. After you subscribe to it, you can request a cleanup, and a cyber security analyst will be assigned to your case. They will then manually scan your site. This entire process can take days!

However, MalCare uses an automated process that will get the job done in a matter of minutes. After it locates the infected files, you can clean it up instantly with its automated cleaner.

The plugin is easy to install and use. And the best part is it actually works! Without further ado, let’s scan your hacked GoDaddy website.

How to Scan Your Hacked WordPress Site With MalCare?

We’ll show you how to scan your site in two simple steps.

Step 1: To use MalCare, you simply need to install it for free on your WordPress site.

Step 2: On your WordPress dashboard, select MalCare > ‘Malware Scan’ and click on ‘Scan Site.’

The scan will automatically run. Once it finds the malware, you’ll see a malware warning like so:

 
Note: If you manage multiple sites, MalCare allows you to list multiple domain names and manage, scan and clean all of them from its independent dashboard.

Let’s proceed to clean your hacked WordPress website immediately.

How To Remove Malware From GoDaddy Websites?

Now that you’ve identified the hacked files, you can use MalCare to remove the malware and restore your site back to normal quickly.

Step 1: Auto-Clean Your Site

On the same page that MalCare displays the hacked files, there is an option called ‘Auto-Clean’.

Click on it and MalCare will begin to clean your site. It will delete all malicious code from your files and folders. In a few minutes, it will alert you that your site is clean.

Note: WordPress malware removal is a complex process and is a premium feature with all WordPress security plugins. If you’re a first-time user of MalCare, you would need to purchase the plan starting at $99 per year ($8.25 per month). 

Step 2: Remove Website’s Host Suspension

In case your site is suspended by GoDaddy, you can contact them via chat, email or phone. Take a screenshot of your ‘site is clean’ status on MalCare. Submit the steps you took to clean your site along with this screenshot to GoDaddy. Once, they verify that your site is clean, they will remove the suspension and your site will be back online.

Tip: If you’re using a shared hosting plan, we recommend switching to a dedicated host. It’s safer and ensure your performance isn’t affect by other websites on the same server.

Step 3: Remove Google Blacklist

If your website was blacklisted by Google, you can submit your site for review. Refer to our guide on How to Remove Google Blacklist Warning.

Prevent Future Attacks On Your GoDaddy Website

Getting rid of the hack is great, but you need to take measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Here are five measures we strongly recommend implementing on your site immediately:

1. Use a Security Plugin

Hackers target sites that are easy to break into. If you have the right security plugin active on your site, it will give you ample protection to keep hackers at bay. We recommend activating MalCare on your site. It will scan and monitor your site regularly. Its firewall will proactively defend your site and block malicious IP addresses, hackers and bots.

2. Update Your WordPress Site Regularly

When you see an update available in your WordPress dashboard, we advise installing it as soon as possible.

Updates contain fixes to security flaws and bugs. They also bring new features and improve the performance of the software. If you find it hard to keep up with updates or face issues with rolling them out.

3. Harden Your WordPress Site

You can make your site stronger against hackers by hardening your website. These measures include implementing 2-step authentication, limiting login attempts, disabling file editor, disabling plugin installation, resetting passwords and security keys, among others.

Some of these measures require technical knowledge. If you’ve installed MalCare, you can implement hardening measures directly from the dashboard with just a few clicks.

4. Monitor Your Themes and Plugins

Never use pirated versions of themes and plugins. Hackers use such software to spread malware. Once you install it, the malware will infect your site.

Make sure you use trusted themes and plugins from the WordPress repository. Keep track of them and ensure that you update them regularly.

We advise you to keep only the themes and plugins you use. Delete any inactive ones you may have on your site. This will remove unnecessary elements on your site that can make it vulnerable.

5. Use An SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate ensures that the data transferred from and to your site is protected. It provides encryption of this data, so, even if a hacker manages to intercept the data, they won’t be able to decipher it. This prevents data breaches.

With these measures in place, hackers will find it very hard to break into your site. You can rest assured your WordPress website is safe. You can check our guide on how to change HTTP to HTTPS on WordPress.

Final Thoughts

GoDaddy is one of the most popular and largest domain registrars and web hosting providers. You can trust that their platform is secure. However, hackers are constantly on the prowl looking for vulnerable WordPress websites and using website hacking techniques. You need to take ample site and mobile security measures to keep these hackers at bay.

To summarize what we discussed today:

1. 1. If your GoDaddy website is hacked, you need to fix it fast. The longer you wait, the worse the consequences become.
   2. We recommend using MalCare because it cleans your website in a matter of minutes and is guaranteed to work.
   3. Install the plugin, run a scan and then auto-clean your site with MalCare. Your site will be hack-free instantly.
   4. MalCare will continue to protect your site, run regular scans and block future hack attempts.

You can have peace of mind knowing that you don’t have to deal with this nightmare again.

Protect your WordPress website with MalCare!