The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and this is getting worse.
You can safely assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time before someone attempts to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Screenshot image: 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 described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website with a vulnerability offers value to hackers. A vulnerable website or blog not only offers hackers opportunities to improve their skills and claim “bragging rights” amongst their peers, but it can also acts as a platform for stealth attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft.
If someone can exploit a vulnerability in the setup, that website can then be used as a “bot” to attack other valuable web sites.
The truth is that hackers are trying to hack into your website or blog at this very moment. Whether they can hack into your site successfully or not, depends on how hard you can make things for them to continue trying until they discover how to break in, or give up and decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Check Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check returns various results and information about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to access all of this information about your WordPress site, hackers can too.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
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 useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about any exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious users and botnets.
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 creator of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This blog had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being suspended by his host and seeing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside his server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and steal financial information.
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example provides the valuable lesson that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security weaknesses in your website are …
And let’s you quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
This plugin lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. Email), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new domains or server locations), do bulk text replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 performs a range of essential site and file security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 lets you scan WordPress sites to detect whether anything unusual in your source code has been modified, and repair any problems it finds …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” 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).
Videos
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven step-by-step training modules (video) plus printable documentation that will teach you exactly what to do to protect your site from malicious users …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Ready To Go To Work In No Time
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product are quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a step-by-step 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 WordPress plugins you can install for free to get the job done.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Helps Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you are an info product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website gets hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. As a result, your, web presence can get suspended by your webhost, or even blocked by search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many great features to site owners.
Blog Defender covers 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
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Tracking Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps for securing your web site, 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 source: Blog Defender)
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have published about Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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“Sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently!” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-protected sites were hacked since Blog Defender’s release in 2012.
Matt Garrett 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 an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost 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 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, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
Product Pricing
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 this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software retails for the pricing shown above. This may or 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 purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use This Product
No matter what type 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 web security.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WP software, WP plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security policies such as the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your responsibilities are as a website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress site easier.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender
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