The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and it’s only going to get worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’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 160,000+ WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
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 web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website with a vulnerability can be an opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable website not only offers newbie hackers opportunities to improve their skills and win “respect” amongst their peers, but it can also be a valuable platform for launching DDoS attacks, distributing malware and information theft.
If hackers can break in and control your website, your website or blog can then be used to attack other valuable web sites.
The reality is that brute-force software bots are probably searching for weaknesses and trying to break into your site as you are reading this. Whether they can be successful or not, depends on how difficult or easy you have made things for them to keep trying until they discover a way to get access, or are forced to decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(WP Security Check Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns various results and details about your site …
(WP security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can see all of this information about your site, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
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 are all potentially valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Product Suite
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular blog was devoid of content and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and steal financial information.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience is evidence that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress site for security vulnerabilities …
And let’s you fix these quickly and easily …
WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender comes with 3 plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud-based storage solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), automate complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do bulk text replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides WordPress security …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
The “WP Security” plugin provides a range of essential site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your WP plugins, WP themes and WP core files to detect if any of your files have been found, and fix problems …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes training in video format plus training guides that teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below are just some of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up
The Blog Defender plugins are very easy to install. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugins to your Plugin folder via your WP administrator area and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that will take you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you’re an info product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website has been hacked, you should expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, website or blog could be suspended by your webhost, or even deindexed by search engines. Additionally, 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 a whole lot more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender provides many features to WP users.
The product helps you fix the following areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WP 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
- Monitoring Files
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process for securing your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Below are some of the testimonials and feedback that customers have published about the Blog Defender product suite:
”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
***
“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 sites secured by the product were hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 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 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 most 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 risk-free, 30 day, 100% money-back 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.
Please Note: Pricing for the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Download The Product
No matter what 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 ignore.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP software, WordPress plugins and themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting security policies like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your security responsibilities are as a website owner, 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 task of securing your site easier.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress
***
***