The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide 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 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 legitimate WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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 WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every site with a vulnerability has potential value to hackers. A compromised website or blog offers hackers with a valuable platform to launch DDoS attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft.
If a malicious user can exploit a vulnerability in the setup, the website can then be used to target other valued websites.
The truth is that software-driven bots are probably searching for security weaknesses and trying to hack into your web site at this very moment. Whether they will hack in or not, will depend on how hard or easy you have made it for them to keep persisting until they can either discover a way to get access, or are forced to give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Website Security Check Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns a number of results and information about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the scanning tool that if you are able to freely access all of this information, then hackers can too.
(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 on your server are all valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about any potential vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This site had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place within the site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and steal Paypal account details.
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
This example shows that that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your website are …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), automate full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), do mass text string replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides your website with security …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin provides a range of site protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 lets you scan your plugins, WordPress themes and WP core files to see if any code in your files has been altered, and fix any problems detected …
(Screenshot: 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 work without providing you anything of benefit in return).
Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender security product suite also includes several step-by-step training videos and written guides that teach you exactly what to do to protect your site from hackers …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more:
Plugin Benefits
Below 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:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
The Blog Defender plugins install like every plugin. Just upload a zip folder that contains the plugins to your Plugins folder via your WordPress administrator login and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as an easy-to-follow DIY training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get the job done without incurring extra expenses.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Theft – If you’re a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Search Engines – When a website has been hacked, you can expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. As a result, your, sites can get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted in search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many features to web site owners.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- File Monitoring
- Track Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process for securing your site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Product image: BlogDefender website)
User Testimonials
Here are just some testimonials and comments that plugin customers have written about Blog Defender:
”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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”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
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-secured sites have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt Garrett 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 is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress 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.
Product 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 Price
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 details of the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the plugin sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin seller when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install The Plugins
Regardless of the 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 ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP core files, WP plugins and WordPress themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what your responsibilities are as the site owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your website is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Suite For WordPress
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