The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and things are getting worse.
It’s safe to assume that if you haven’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 reported that 160,000+ WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot image: 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)
As reported by 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.
You may think that your site has no significant value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to benefit at your expense.
If a hacker can discover a flaw in the setup, that website or blog can then be used to attack larger and more valued web sites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are probably scouring for vulnerabilities and trying to break into your blog while you are reading this page. Whether they will successfully break into your site or not, will depend on how difficult you have made it for hackers or bots to continue persisting until they work out how to get in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for an easier 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 check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Scan Product image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test will yield various results and information about your website …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can see all of this information about your WordPress site, so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
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 on your server can be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potential security weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious users and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular site was quite new and so had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it still was targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and seeing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within his server, as well as the addition of several phishing files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Matt’s experience demonstrates that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your website are …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
WordPress Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite of products includes 3 WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud backup solutions using different backup methods, automate complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text in your database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
The plugin provides a range of vital file and site protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your files and content to see whether anything has been found, and repair any problems it detects …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without offering you anything in return).
Blog Defender – Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes training in video format plus training guides that show you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use
The plugins included with Blog Defender are really easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as an easy-to-follow DIY step-by-step training product that will walk 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 install for free to get the job done without incurring unnecessary costs.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Protect your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If you sell an info product (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website is 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. As a result, your, account could get suspended by your host, or even deindexed by search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business or financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender offers many features to WP users.
The product covers the following issues:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- 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
- Track Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help secure your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Feedback From Plugin Users
Below are just some testimonials and feedback plugin users have written 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
***
”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-protected websites have been hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
Matt Garrett 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 developers presently can harness. 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 many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.
Note: Current pricing for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was current at the time this review was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software seller when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install These Plugins
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your sites is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like making sure that your WordPress core files, WordPress plugins and themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security policies like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress site easier.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender WordPress Security Suite
***
***