The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and the situation is getting worse.
It’s 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 162,000 WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Source: 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 WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website or blog provides little to no value to hackers, but the reality is that every website is valuable to a malicious user.
If hackers can exploit a software security flaw, that blog can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target other valued web sites.
The truth is that hackers are very likely trying to break into your blog at this very moment. Whether they will be successful depends on how difficult or easy you can make things for them to continue trying until they find a way to get access, or give up and go 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 website through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and information about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – website security scan results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to freely access all of this information, so can hackers.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Being able 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 on your server are all useful information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
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 developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This site was new and so had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
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 server, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Image source: Blog Defender)
This example shows that that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for potential security holes …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
This plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud storage solutions using different backup methods, schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides WordPress security …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 scans your WordPress plugins, WordPress themes, core files and content to see if anything unusual in your files has been altered, and repair any problems it uncovers …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” 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 offering you anything in return).
Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes a number of step-by-step tutorial videos and PDF/DOC guides that show you exactly what to do to protect your website from hackers …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Plugin 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 site:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The plugins included with Blog Defender install like any other plugin. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which WordPress plugins you can install for free to get things done.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- 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 downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Host – When a website gets hacked, you can expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, account can be suspended by your webhost, or even deindexed in 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 a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender was designed to keeps your site and your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product helps you fix the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitoring Files
- Tracking Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process for securing your site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: Blog Defender)
Testimonials From Customers
Here are some of the testimonials and feedback that users have published about Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”My business is built around the WordPress platform and I’m embarrassed to admin I’ve been slack in the security department. However, Matt’s training soon put that right! I followed each detailed video to the letter and discovered some incredible security tricks and plugins I’d never heard of before. Better still, all the plugins were free to download too! The end result? My WordPress membership site is now locked down tighter than Parkhurst at midnight and if anybody tries hacking it, I’ll be the first to know! thanks again Matt, I’m off to secure the rest of the blogs in my portfolio!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to the product’s site, no websites secured by the solution were hacked since Blog Defender’s first 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.”
Cybersecurity is is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need 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.
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, thirty day, complete refund 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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: Price details for the Blog Defender software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was correct at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing here:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
We Recommend
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP installation, WP plugins and WordPress themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress website easier.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress
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