Over a year ago, we launched Safe Browsing alerts in Google Analytics to warn users about websites identified as compromised and being used for distributing malware or phishing attacks. Since launch, we’ve alerted more than 24,000 Google Analytics property owners whose websites had been compromised by 3rd parties.
Today, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be expanding our set of alerts in Google Analytics by adding notifications about sites hacked for spam in violation of our Webmaster Guidelines. In the unlikely event of your site being compromised by a 3rd party, the alert will flag the affected domain right within the Google Analytics UI and will point you to resources to help you resolve the issue.
An example of a Google Analytics alert for a compromised site.
Website security is still something to take very seriously. In September of last year,
we shared that we’d seen a 180% increase in sites getting hacked for spam compared to the previous year.
Our research has shown that direct contact with website owners increases the likelihood of remediation to over 75%. This new alert gives us an additional method for letting website owners know that their site may be compromised.
What can you do to prevent your site being compromised?
Prevention plays an important role in keeping your site, and your users, safe. We’ve recently published tips and best practices to protect your content on the web, we recommend them to any site, large or small.
Verify your site on Search Console.
Aside from receiving alerts in Google Analytics or via
Search results labels when your site is compromised, we recommend taking the extra step to verify your site in
Search Console.
The
Security Issues feature will alert you when things don’t look good and will pin-point the issues we’ve uncovered on your properties. We have detailed a recovery journey in our
hacked step-by-step recovery guide to help you resolve the issue and keep your website and users safe.
We’re always looking for ideas and feedback—feel free to use the comments section below. For any support questions, visit
google.com/webmasters and our
support communities available in 14 languages.
Posted by Giacomo Gnecchi Ruscone, Search Outreach and Anthony Medeiros, Google Analytics
