The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and things are getting worse.
It’s safe to assume that if you haven’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 reported that over 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
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 WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your site is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website is an opportunity to benefit or profit at your expense.
If hackers can hack into and gain remote access of your website or blog, the site can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyber-attack against more valued sites.
The harsh reality is that software-driven bots are most likely looking for vulnerabilities and trying to hack into your site as you are reading this page. Whether they can be successful or not, depends on how difficult you have made it for hackers to keep trying until they discover how to get access, or give up and decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Scan Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will return a number of results and information about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – website security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this scanning tool that if you can access all of this information about your blog, then so can hackers.
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
The ability 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 on your server can be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about any exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product 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 developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site was devoid of content and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to lure unsuspecting visitors to the site and steal their financial details.
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
This example shows that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your web site are …
And let’s you easily fix these …
Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud solutions using a number of backup methods, perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your website or blog with security …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides 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 and WordPress core files to see whether anything unusual in your source code has been modified, and repair any problems found …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” 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 reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Training Videos
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes a number of videos plus written guides that will show you exactly what to do to protect your site from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
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 website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Use
The plugins included with Blog Defender install just like any other WordPress plugin. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin area and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a step-by-step training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get things done inexpensively.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If your site sells an information product (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website has been hacked, expect to go through a great deal of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, account can be suspended by your host, or even deindexed in search engines. And if this is not painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details or financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender offers a number of features to web site owners.
Blog Defender covers the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- WP 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
- Monitoring Files
- Track Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help protect your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Testimonials From Customers
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments customers have written about the Blog Defender solution:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-protected sites were hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt 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 escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium 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 risk-free, 30 day, complete 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.
Please Note: Pricing details of Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was correct when this review was published. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the product seller when you visit the plugin site and there may be 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 help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Get The Product
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 or blog is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WP core files, plugins and themes up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your website is hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major WordPress security holes without paying for costly solutions.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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