The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and this is getting worse.
You can safely 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+ legitimate WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(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)
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 cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website is of no interest to hackers, but the reality is that all websites have value to a malicious user.
If a malicious user can discover a way to gain remote access of your website or blog, your website or blog can then be used to target more highly-valued websites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are very likely searching for weaknesses and trying to break into your blog right now. Whether they will do this successfully will depend on how challenging you have made things for hackers or botnets to continue trying until they discover how to get access, or decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Check Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will yield various results and details about your site …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security scan results. Image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can see all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Being able to see what 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 can all be potentially useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about any exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Sites
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 developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its hosting company. This particular site was fairly new and had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of this after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside his site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack Paypal account details.
(Source: BlogDefender website)
This simple example illustrates the fact that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress site for security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly …
Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do bulk text replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides your WP web site with security …
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
The “WordPress Security” plugin performs a range of essential site protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” scans WordPress sites to detect if your source code has been found, and repair problems …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes several video training guides and written documentation that teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Implement
The plugins are very easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying for unnecessary expenses.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include the following:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you are an information product author (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, web presence can be closed by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, 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 much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides many features to WordPress users.
Blog Defender addresses the following areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Monitor Files
- Tracking Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps for securing your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Below are just a few of the testimonials that plugin users have provided for the Blog Defender product:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.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
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, since the release of Blog Defender, no websites or blogs using Blog Defender have been hacked.
Matt 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 an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers presently can access. 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 most web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Product 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, full money-back guarantee.
Plugin Cost
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: The cost of purchasing this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was correct when this content was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing information here:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Buy This Product
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot ignore the importance of website security.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WP installation, WordPress plugins and themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress site easier.
For more details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender
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