The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and the situation is only going to get worse.
You can safely assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that over 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image source: Blog Defender)
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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website or blog has nothing to offer to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites are an opportunity to gain some benefit at your expense.
If a hacker can discover a way to control your web site, your web site can then be used as a “bot” to attack other valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that software-driven bots are very likely trying to hack into your blog while you are reading this article right now. Whether they will achieve this depends on how challenging you have made it for hackers and botnets to continue persisting until they work out a way to get access, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will yield a number of results and details about your site …
(WP security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you can access all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
Being able to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Product Suite
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This site was devoid of content and so had literally no value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside the site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack Paypal account details.
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example demonstrates that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your WordPress installation are …
And let’s you easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
This plugin performs a range of file and site security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your content and files to detect whether any code in your files has been found, and repair any problems it detects …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your work without offering anything of benefit in return).
Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes a number of step-by-step tutorial videos plus PDF/DOC documentation that teach you exactly what to do to protect your site from malicious users …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
For more details go here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use
The plugins included with Blog Defender are quite easy to install. Just upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user login and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a practical do-it-yourself training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins you should install to get the job done without paying for unnecessary expenses.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Secure Your Info Products – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, blog can be closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted in search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides many unique features to WP users.
The product addresses the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical sequence of steps to help secure your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Source: BlogDefender site)
Feedback From Users
Below are just some testimonials that plugin customers have submitted for the Blog Defender plugin:
”This is probably one of those times you ask yourself ‘do I really need this product?’ Let’s face it, on the surface it’s not going to immediately put more money in your pocket or even add some cool new gizmo to your site… The truth is yes you do and you need it now. I’ve been in the online business for 10+ years and had my fair share of hacked sites which have cost me time and money (lots of it)…I’ve also seen a good number of people have their reputations and entire businesses left in tatters when their sites have been hacked. Right now is the time to act, because when it’s too late, well basically you’ll be screwed (and you’ll regret the day you passed over such a great opportunity to protect yourself for so little). And by the way, if you think your web host will come to your rescue think again, you’ll be on your own, paying to put things right and suffering the cost of lost sales and business. This is a seriously good product and if you rely on WordPress to make you money online then it’s nothing less than essential. Buy it, follow Matt’s expert advice and don’t end up another victim!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”My business is built around the WordPress platform and I’m embarrassed to admin I’ve been slack in the security department. However, Matt’s training soon put that right! I followed each detailed video to the letter and discovered some incredible security tricks and plugins I’d never heard of before. Better still, all the plugins were free to download too! The end result? My WordPress membership site is now locked down tighter than Parkhurst at midnight and if anybody tries hacking it, I’ll be the first to know! thanks again Matt, I’m off to secure the rest of the blogs in my portfolio!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012, no Blog Defender-protected sites were hacked.
Matt also states on his site, however …
“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 perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools that developers presently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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 no-risk, thirty day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: The price of this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, web security is something you cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress core files, WordPress plugins and themes up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without paying a lot of money.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Suite
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