The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and it’s only going to get worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’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 sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(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)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known 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 has some potential value to hackers. No blog Large, medium and small business web sites, personal blogs, government web sites … even web sites owned by web security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If a malicious user can find a vulnerability, that website can then be employed as part of a larger network of “bots” to target more highly-valued websites.
The reality is that hackers are probably looking for security weaknesses and trying to break into your blog as you are reading this page. Whether they can achieve this will depend on how challenging you can make things for hackers to continue persisting until they work out how to break in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Scan Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan will yield a number of results and details about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – website security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to freely access all of this information about your blog, then hackers can too.
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
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 all be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially where the owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress Sites
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress 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-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular blog had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside the site, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files designed to drive visitors to the site and hijack their Paypal account details.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
This simple example should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress installation for security weaknesses …
And let’s you quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite comes with three WordPress plugins:
The first plugin in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated backups to your server, external servers and leading cloud-based storage solutions using different backup methods (e.g. FTP), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides your site with security …
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” performs a range of vital site and file security functions (see “Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” allows you to scan your WordPress plugins, themes, core files and content to detect if any code in your files has been found, and repair problems …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without providing you anything of value in return).
Step-By-Step Tutorial Videos
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven training modules in video format and PDF/DOC guides that will show you exactly what to do to protect your site from hackers …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more:
Plugin Benefits
Below 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:
Installation Is Easy
The Blog Defender plugins install just like every WordPress plugin. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a practical and useful 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 plugins you can use for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If your site sells an information product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website gets hacked, you can expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, blog can be suspended by your webhost, or even blacklisted in search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts could be spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to keeps your site and your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender addresses the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process for securing your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback customers have published about the Blog Defender solution:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no Blog Defender-secured sites were hacked since Blog Defender’s original release.
Matt Garrett, 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.”
The war on hackers is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers currently can harness. 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 most 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, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
Product Cost
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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: The cost to purchase the Blog Defender plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the plugin is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information here:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of securing your site.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress installation, plugins and WP themes up-to-date, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Adopting security policies such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your responsibilities are as the website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your sites are hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
For more information, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Suite For WordPress Websites
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