The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and things are getting worse.
You can safely 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 over 162,000 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(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 described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a security vulnerability offers value to hackers. An unsecured blog presents malicious users with a resource for denial of service attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft.
If a malicious user can exploit a weakness in your security, your website or blog can then be used to attack other valued web sites.
The truth is that hackers are probably looking for vulnerabilities and trying to break into your blog at this very moment. Whether they can do this successfully depends on how hard or easy you have made things for hackers to keep persisting until they find a way to break in, or decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan will yield various results and details about your site …
(WordPress security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the scanning tool that if you can freely access all of this information, hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender website)
Being able 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 potentially exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Suite For WordPress
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of the BlogDefender security suit began looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into. This site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and seeing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience should be enough to convince you that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress installation for potential security weaknesses …
And let’s you quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes three plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and well-known cloud solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your site with security …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
The “WP Security” plugin performs a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
The third plugin lets you scan your WP plugins, WP themes, core files and content to detect whether anything has been altered, and repair problems …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without offering you anything of value in return).
Training Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender WP security suite also includes a number of video training guides and training guides that will show you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from malicious attacks …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Easy, Quick And Simple To Install
The Blog Defender plugins are very easy to install. Simply upload them to your Plugin folder via your administrator section and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a useful DIY training product that will take you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free WordPress plugins to use to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Being Freely Distributed – If you are a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a great deal of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, site could be closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender hide your website from hackers and malicious botnets.
Blog Defender addresses the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- File Monitoring
- Track Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help secure your site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Here are just some testimonials and comments customers have provided for Blog Defender:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”I sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently. Okay, it was my fault for not securing things more, BUT… I didn’t have a handy, current reference like this to turn to for quick help either.;)” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs have been hacked.
Matt Garrett, 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.”
The war on hackers is is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers can currently get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’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, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software 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.
Note: Pricing for Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current pricing at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the software seller when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your website is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress installation, plugins and WordPress themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without costly solutions.
For more details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender
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