The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and it’s only going to get worse.
It’s probably safe to 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 began reporting that 162,000 WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could your website 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)
According to security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a vulnerability offers some value to hackers. An unsecured website presents hackers with a valuable resource to launch DDoS attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft.
If a hacker can find a software vulnerability in your security, that site can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target other highly-valued websites.
The truth is that hackers are probably searching for security exploits and trying to break into your website while you are reading this. Whether they can successfully break into your site depends on how difficult you have made it for hackers or bots to continue trying until they can either discover how to get access, or are forced to decide to look for a more vulnerable 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 scan …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Scan Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check returns various results and information about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – WP 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, so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: 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 can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender Security Solution
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of the BlogDefender security suit began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This particular site had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and steal their Paypal account information.
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
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 website are …
And then shows you how to easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, external servers and leading cloud backup solutions using different backup methods, 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 malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
The “WP Security” plugin provides a range of vital site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 scans your plugins, WP themes and WP core files to see whether anything unusual has been tampered with, and fix any problems it uncovers …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without providing you anything of value in return).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven videos and downloadable guides that teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below are 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 Start Using In No Time
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product are very easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user account and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself 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 free plugins to install to get things done without incurring additional or unnecessary costs.
Additional benefits of the plugin include:
- Secure your website 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 – If you sell an information product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website has been hacked, expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, websites can be closed by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender hide your WordPress website or blog from hackers and bots.
The product helps you fix all of the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP 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
- Track Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process for securing your 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 WordPress security process. Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Feedback From Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials and comments that customers have published about the Blog Defender plugin:
”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
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs were hacked since Blog Defender’s first release.
Matt Garrett also 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.”
Cybersecurity is is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers currently 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 web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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 risk-free, thirty day, full refund guarantee.
Software 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.
Note: Price details for Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was correct when this article was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin author when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing here:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, web security is something you simply cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting simple 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 your security responsibilities are as a site owner, 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 how to avoid all the major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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