Using Google Alerts to Fight Hackers

Many times web owners find that their website has been hacked a little too late. The reason for this is usually simple – no one really has that much time to spend checking and their rechecking their site very frequently to guard against signs of hacking. This is especially true if you’ve had your site for sometime and haven’t experienced much trouble and so get complacent.

Thanks to Google Alerts we have one of the most convenient ways of knowing if a hacker has got to your site. All you have to do is use Google to monitor queries for common spam keywords and phrases like credit, Viagra, etc. What will happen then is that Google Alerts will email you each time any of the keywords appears on your website.

The problem with this approach is that first of all you’ll only find out from Google Alerts after the fact the spam is already in your site. Second, you’ll probably overlook some spam phrases and not set up an alert for them. However, even with these issues using Google Alerts in conjunction with other methods of keeping hackers out can still be useful. At the very least you’ll find out fast enough when your site is hacked without having to check your site for hidden keywords every single day. As for the keywords and phrases you might miss make sure you prepare by compiling a good list so that you’re at least sure you remember most of the spam keywords.

By Sparky in Google, Tips, Tools & Utilities

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