The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and things are only going to get worse.
You can safely 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 160,000+ WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Source: BlogDefender website)
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 WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a vulnerability offers some value to hackers. A vulnerable web site presents malicious users with a valuable resource to launch DDoS attacks, spread malware and use your site to defraud online users.
If a hacker can hack into and gain remote access and control of your blog, your website can then be used to attack other valued websites.
The harsh reality is that malicious bots are very likely scouring for security exploits and trying to break into your website at this very moment. Whether they will be successful will depend on how challenging you have made it for hackers and bots to keep trying until they discover a way to get access, or are forced to give up and go look for a less protected target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(WP Security Scan Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will yield various results and details about your site setup …
(website security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can access all of this information, so can hackers.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
The ability to see which version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories in your site are all potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and hijack their Paypal account details.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Matt’s experience should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do bulk text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 performs a range of site and file security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 scans your WP plugins, WP themes and WP core files to detect if any of your files have been tampered with, and fix problems …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender security suite also includes videos and written guides that teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from hackers …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Set Up
The plugins included with Blog Defender install like every WordPress plugin. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY step-by-step training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get things done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products From Being Freely Distributed – If you sell info products (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, website can be suspended by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. And if this is not painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender addresses the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- File Monitoring
- Monitoring Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps to help protect your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and feedback that users have submitted for Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-protected sites were hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
The product developer 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.”
Cybersecurity is an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can currently get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender 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, 30 day, complete money-back guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
Blog Defender is normally available with a personal license only for use 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: Pricing for the Blog Defender plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current pricing at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be 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, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use These Plugins
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot ignore the importance of website security.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WP installation, plugins and WP themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your security responsibilities as a website owner 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 which tools can make the task of securing your installation easier.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite
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