The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and things are only going to get worse.
It’s 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 began reporting that over 162,000 WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked 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 websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that all websites have value to a malicious user.
If someone can hack and control your web site, your blog can then be employed as a “bot” in a planned cyber-attack against more valued websites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are most likely trying to break into your web site at this very moment. Whether they can achieve this or not, will depend on how hard you have made it for hackers or bots to keep trying until they either work out how to get access, or 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 check …
(WP Security Scan Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and details about your website …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to see all of this information about your site, then so can hackers.
(Product image: 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 valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about exploitable vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive 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 Product Suite For WordPress Websites & Blogs
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular site was quite new and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being suspended by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack their Paypal account information.
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
This example shows that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security weaknesses in your website are …
And let’s you easily fix these …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes three WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
The plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. FTP), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your web site with security …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
The “WP Security” plugin provides a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” lets you scan your files and content to detect if your source code has been tampered with, and repair the problem …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes 7 video tutorial modules and training documentation that will show you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install like any regular plugin. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugins to your Plugin folder via your WP administrator area and activate.
Very 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 exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying for unnecessary expenses.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Being Freely Distributed – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website has been hacked, expect to go through a great deal of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, website can get suspended by your host, or even blocked by search engines. Additionally, your contacts can be spammed, your customer list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help protect your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Below are just some testimonials and comments that users have written about Blog Defender:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012, no Blog Defender-secured websites were hacked.
Matt 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 can access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, doesn’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many premium 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 risk-free, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software Pricing
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 product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing above was correct at the time this content was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software developer when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Plugin Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
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 secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WP core files, WP plugins and themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting a security procedure like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your security responsibilities are as the site owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your website easier.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin
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