The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and this is only going to get worse.
You can safely assume that if your website or blog hasn’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 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked 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 attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every site with a vulnerability can present an opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable web site offers malicious users with a valuable resource to launch DDoS attacks, spread malware and use your site to defraud others.
If a malicious user can exploit a way to take over and control your blog, your site can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target larger and more valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that software-driven bots are very likely searching for vulnerabilities and trying to hack into your blog right now. Whether they can be successful or not, will depend on how hard you have made it for hackers and botnets to keep persisting until they discover a way to get access, or decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Screenshot source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will yield various results and details about your WordPress setup …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you are able to see all of this information about your WordPress website, hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender website)
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 are all potentially useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about any potential vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to malicious attackers 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 creator of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This site was new and had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Source: BlogDefender site)
This example illustrates the fact that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your web site are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
The Blog Defender security product suite comes with three WordPress plugins:
The first plugin in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, external servers and leading cloud-based solutions using a number of backup methods, automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
The plugin provides a range of essential site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” scans your WordPress plugins, WP themes and core files to detect whether anything in your files has been changed, and fix problems …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
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 reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes 7 step-by-step video training modules plus training documentation that will teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious users …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Fast And Easy To Install And Configure
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install just like any WordPress plugin. Simply upload them to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a practical training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying additional costs.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Being Stolen – If you sell information products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Banned By Search Engines – When a site gets hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, sites could be closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details or financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many features to WordPress users.
The product helps you fix the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help secure your site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Source: BlogDefender site)
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have submitted for Blog Defender:
”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
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”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-secured websites or blogs have been hacked since Blog Defender’s release in 2012.
The product developer 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.”
The war on hackers is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers presently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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% money-back guarantee.
Product Licensing 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: Price details for the Blog Defender product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the product retails for the pricing shown above. This 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 your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
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 cannot afford to ignore the importance of securing your website.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP installation, WP plugins and themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to attacks by hackers and bots.
Adopting security policies like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, 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 all the major WordPress security holes without investing in expensive solutions.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress
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