How to Detect Unauthorized Changes to Your Website

Unauthorized changes are not always obvious. A single extra link, a hidden script, or a small text edit can signal a security issue. If you rely on your website for leads or sales, you need to know when something changes without your approval.

This guide covers practical ways to detect unauthorized changes and respond quickly.

Common types of unauthorized changes

• New links in headers or footers.
• Injected scripts or tracking tags.
• Hidden spam content.
• Unexpected redirects.

Why you might not notice right away

Attackers often target only certain pages or visitors. Your homepage may look normal while deeper pages are compromised. This is why automatic monitoring is important.

How to detect changes manually

1. Review your key pages weekly.
2. Check for new scripts in page source.
3. Search Google for unknown pages on your domain.

Manual checks work but they are easy to forget.

How to detect changes automatically

Integrity monitoring compares your pages to a baseline and alerts you when changes occur. This is the most reliable way to detect unauthorized edits without constant manual review.

What to do when you find a change

1. Confirm if the change was authorized.
2. Restore the affected page from a clean backup.
3. Reset passwords and remove unknown admin users.
4. Update plugins and core software.

How to reduce future risk

• Limit admin access to trusted users only.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
• Monitor integrity changes regularly.