The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and things are only going to get worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s inevitable that at some point in time someone will attempt to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
According to the Cnet report,
“With some old-fashioned trickery, hackers were able to get more than 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered Web sites to mount a distributed-denial-of-service attack against another Web site.”
(Source: cnet.com/news/ddos-attack-is-launched-from-162000-wordpress-sites)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your site provides little to no value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites are an opportunity to benefit or profit at your expense.
If someone can discover a security flaw, that website or blog can then be employed to attack larger and more valued websites.
The truth is that malicious bots are most likely trying to break into your blog right now. Whether they will successfully get into your site or not, depends on how hard you will make it for hackers to continue persisting until they discover how to break in, or are forced to decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Scan Source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan will display a number of results and details about your WordPress installation …
(WordPress security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to access all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
The ability to see which version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed on your site, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories on your server are all potentially valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about any security vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This particular site had literally nothing to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside his site, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack Paypal account information.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security weaknesses …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. Email), perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text in your database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 performs a range of essential website security functions (see “Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” allows you to scan your plugins, themes, WP core files and content to detect whether any of your files have been changed, and repair any problems it detects …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes several step-by-step training in video format plus written guides that show you exactly how to protect your website from hackers …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Configure
The Blog Defender plugins install just like any other plugin. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your admin account and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow do-it-yourself training product that will take you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get things done without incurring unnecessary costs.
Some additional benefits of using the plugin include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If you sell information products (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, website can be closed by your host, or even deindexed by search engines. In addition, your personal contacts could be spammed, your customer list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender was designed to keep your sites and your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help secure your web site, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Image source: Blog Defender)
Testimonials From Users
Here are some of the testimonials that customers have written about the Blog Defender plugin:
”Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re too small or not important enough to be hacked! I’ve found out that I’ve had bots in the backend of my sites, making alterations and changing things around, so there’s no telling what damage they’ve caused. I’ve had my main blog for over 3 years now, and the thought of losing all the hard work I’ve put into it is just devastating, not to mention costly! I have a shared hosting plan, so of course once they can get into one site, they can also access the others. Luckily, I now have the procedures detailed within Blog Defender in place so that I can prevent the majority of this ever happening again. Once you’ve secured one site it gets a lot quicker to secure all subsequent sites. With Blog Defender, you get easy-to-follow videos, along with a detailed checklist that you can downloadf. You are literally walked through the process of securing your blog against hackers, which has given me real peace of mind. This is a growing issue that all website owners are facing; so it isn’t going to go away. Prevention is better than cure, particularly as some of the nastier hacks around can literally ruin your business. So do yourself a favour – get your sites protected now, before it’s too late.” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs were hacked since Blog Defender’s first release.
The product developer also states on his site …
“With the volume of attacks nowadays … we probably won’t hold forever, so we’ve been busy creating even tougher WordPress security.”
The war on hackers is is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers can currently access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender Plugin Support
The product is well-supported, can be used by both Mac and PC users, is compatible with the latest WordPress release and is backed by a risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
Product License Cost
Blog Defender is normally available for personal use only on unlimited sites. When we last checked, however, it was also being sold with Developer rights, allowing users to secure client sites as well.. Cost = $47.00.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the Blog Defender plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the product sells for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of securing your web sites.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, WP plugins and WP themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security policies such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your security responsibilities are as the site owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major security risks without paying a lot of money.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
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