The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and this 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 before someone attempts to hack into your site.
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 hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
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 WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a security vulnerability can be seen as an opportunity to hackers. A compromised web site provides malicious users with a valuable platform for stealth attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft.
If a malicious user can discover a way to gain remote control of your website or blog, the web site can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyberattack against larger and more valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are searching for security weaknesses and trying to hack into your blog as you are reading this article. Whether they will break in successfully or not, depends on how challenging you can make things for them to keep trying until they work out how to get access, or are forced to give up and decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Check Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test returns a number of results and information about your website …
(website security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to see all of this information about your blog, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
The ability to see which 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 these can inform them about any security weaknesses, especially where the owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious users and bots.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the developer of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This site was not being used and had practically nothing to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his site, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
This simple example should be enough to convince you that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your WordPress installation are …
And let’s you fix these quickly and easily …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite includes 3 WordPress plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
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 (e.g. Email), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides your website with security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
The plugin performs a range of website protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan WordPress sites to see whether your source code has been found, and fix the problem …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your work without offering anything in return).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes seven videos plus downloadable documentation that will teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Ready To Use In Minutes
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite are very easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a practical DIY training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying additional expenses.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you are an info product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Banned By Search Engines – When a site gets hacked, expect to go through a great deal of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, account can get suspended by your host, or even blocked in search engines. And if that is not enough to have to deal with, your contacts could be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender was designed to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product helps you fix all of the following areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitor Files
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help secure your site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Image source: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials customers have published about the Blog Defender plugin:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”Since working with blogs, I… like many others, have been concerned about how to handle the constant threat of blog attacks. After having a look at Blog Defender you can’t help but become most aware of the vulnerable areas all bloggers need to protect. Blog Defender is viable WordPress blog security prevention system that offers video instruction along with 3 software plugins that are free to download. The instruction shows the optimum settings on how to use the free plugins that will allow you top level force against blog hacker attacks.” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, since Blog Defender was first released, no Blog Defender-secured sites were hacked.
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 currently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many web 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 risk-free, 30 day, 100% 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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: Current pricing for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the product sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the software seller when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
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 web security.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and themes, 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 to help prevent your sites being attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress installation easier.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Solution
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