The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and this is 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 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 160,000+ WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Image 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website with a security vulnerability provides an opportunity to hackers. An unsecured blog offers hackers with a valuable resource to launch DDoS attacks, spread malware and use your website to steal information from innocent people.
If a hacker can find a way to gain complete control of your site, the website can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target more valuable web sites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are very likely trying to hack into your website as you are reading this article right now. Whether they can be successful will depend on how hard you will make it for hackers to keep trying until they find how to break in, or give up and go look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will display a number of results and information about your WordPress site …
(Hackertarget – website security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this scanning tool that if you are able to access all of this information about your WordPress website, then hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
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 in your site can be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about any security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by the hosting company. This particular site had practically no value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being contacted by his host and seeing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
This simple example is evidence that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress installation for potential security vulnerabilities …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides your WP site with security …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
This plugin provides a range of site protection functions (see “Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” allows you to scan your files and content to detect if any code in your files has been changed, and repair any problems detected …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Tutorials Videos
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes training in video format and PDF/DOC guides that will teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious users …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite are really easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user section and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a practical and useful training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get the job done.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products – If your site sells an info product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a site has been hacked, you should expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, sites could be closed by your webhost, or even blocked by search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts can be spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender hide your website from hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender helps you fix all of the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitoring Files
- Monitor Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process for securing your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Testimonials From Plugin Users
Here are a couple of the testimonials customers have provided for the Blog Defender security products:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
***
”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
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no sites using Blog Defender have been hacked since Blog Defender’s release.
The product developer 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 constant 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 provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, doesn’t cost a fortune 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 risk-free, 30 day, full refund guarantee.
Product 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: The cost to purchase the Blog Defender plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the product sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information here:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, website security is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, WordPress 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 vulnerabilities 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 how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without paying a lot of money.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
***
***