The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and things are getting worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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)
According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website or blog is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website is an opportunity to gain some benefit at your expense.
If hackers can hack and control your blog, that web site can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyberattack against more valued web sites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are probably looking for exploits and trying to hack into your blog at this very moment. Whether they can break in successfully will depend on how hard or easy you have made it for hackers and bots to keep persisting until they discover how to get access, or are forced to give up and go look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Check Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns a number of results and information about your website …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you are able to access all of this information, hackers can too.
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
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 can be potentially useful information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially where the 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 hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Solution
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This site had practically no value to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being contacted by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Matt’s experience is evidence that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress site for security vulnerabilities …
And then shows you how to quickly and easily fix these …
Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous 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 provides WordPress security …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
This plugin performs a range of vital site protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your WP plugins, WP themes and WP core files to see if anything unusual in your files or source code has been found, and repair any problems it detects …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content 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).
Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes several training videos plus written guides that will show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Use
The plugins included with Blog Defender install like any plugin. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugins to your Plugin folder via your WordPress admin area and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow 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 WordPress plugins you can install for free to get things done without incurring unnecessary costs.
Some additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If your site sells a digital product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website has been hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, web presence could get closed by your host, or even blacklisted in search engines. And if that is not painful enough, your contacts can be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender make your your website or blog invisible to hackers and malicious bots.
The product helps you fix all of the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Hosting 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical sequence of steps for securing your site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Testimonials
Below are just some testimonials that plugin users have published about Blog Defender:
”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
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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, Matt Garrett, since the release of Blog Defender, no sites secured by the solution were hacked.
Matt Garrett 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.”
Cybersecurity is an 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 creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require 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.
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% refund guarantee.
Plugin 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: Current pricing for the Blog Defender software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the plugin retails for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use These Plugins
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of securing your web site.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP installation, WordPress plugins and themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting security procedures 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 if the security on your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without paying a lot of money.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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