The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, 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.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 160,000+ WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could your website 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 leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website or blog has no significant value to hackers, but the reality is that every website is valuable to a malicious user.
If hackers can hack into and remotely take control of your blog, the website can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target larger and more highly-valued sites.
The harsh reality is that brute-force software bots are scouring for weaknesses and trying to hack into your blog right now. Whether they will achieve this or not, will depend on how challenging you can make it for them to continue persisting until they discover a way to get access, or decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will return a number of results and information about your WordPress site …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can see all of this information about your website, hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender site)
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 can all be valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about potential holes or weaknesses, especially where the owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite 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 looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This blog was new and so had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside his site, as well as the addition of several phishing files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
This simple example illustrates the fact that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your website are …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
This plugin lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud-based storage solutions using different backup methods, perform complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), do bulk text string replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides your site with security …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin provides a range of file and site security functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your plugins, themes, WordPress core files and content to detect if any code in your files has been changed, and repair any problems it uncovers …
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender security suite also includes step-by-step training videos and downloadable documentation that teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
More info:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Be Up And Running In No Time
The plugins included with Blog Defender install like every WordPress plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugins to your Plugin folder via your admin account and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY step-by-step training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins to use to get the job done.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Helps Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you are an info product author (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, site could get suspended by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. And if that isn’t painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender hide your WordPress website or blog from hackers and bots.
The product helps you fix all of the following issues:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- File Monitoring
- Monitoring Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps to help protect your web site, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: BlogDefender site)
Feedback From Customers
Here are a few of the testimonials that customers have submitted for the Blog Defender security suite:
”I’ve had to go through the inconvenience of a hacked blog before and let me tell you it’s not nice. With online security becoming an increasing problem, especially with WordPress, this is a great way to secure your blog. I’ll be following Matt’s training and securing all my blogs…Great job.” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to the product’s site, no sites protected with the product have been hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
The product developer also 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 is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers can currently get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most web 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 no-risk, 30 day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Pricing
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.. Cost = $47.00.
Please Note: Pricing details of Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software retails for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what kind 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 websites.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, WP plugins and WP themes 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 a security procedure such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand 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 security risks without paying a lot of money.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Solution
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