The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and this is getting worse.
It’s safe to 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 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every site with a vulnerability can be seen as a potential opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable website offers malicious users with a resource to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and use your site to defraud innocent people.
If someone can find a way to take over your site, that blog can then be used as a “bot” to attack more highly-valued web sites.
The reality is that brute-force software bots are very likely trying to hack into your website or blog right now. Whether they can achieve this depends on how challenging you can make it for hackers to keep trying until they either discover how to get in, or give up and decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Scan Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will yield a number of results and information about your site setup …
(WP security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can access all of this information about your website, then so can hackers.
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
The ability to see what 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 in your site are all useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about any potential holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This site had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within his site, as well as the addition of several phishing files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience shows that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
This plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud storage solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides your web site with security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
This plugin performs a range of vital site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 lets you scan your plugins, WordPress themes and WP core files to detect whether your source code has been changed, and fix the problem …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes step-by-step training videos plus training guides that will show you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from hackers and bots …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Configure
The plugins included with Blog Defender are really easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugins to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow DIY step-by-step training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free WordPress plugins you should use to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you’re a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website has been hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, website can be closed by your host, or even deindexed by search engines. Additionally, your contacts could be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Features
Blog Defender provides many features to WP users.
Blog Defender provides fixes for all of the following security areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Tracking Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process for securing your web site, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: BlogDefender website)
Feedback From Users
Below are some of the testimonials plugin customers have submitted regarding Blog Defender:
”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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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no websites or blogs secured with the product have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt Garrett 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 constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many premium 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 no-risk, thirty day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Price
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 cost of purchasing Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the product is selling for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, website security is something you simply cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting security procedures such as the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your security responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress website easier.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin
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