The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and this is only going to get worse.
It’s safe to assume that if you haven’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 reported that 160,000+ legitimate WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot image: 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)
As reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website or blog provides little to no value to hackers, but the reality is that all websites are valuable to a malicious user.
If a hacker can exploit a vulnerability and gain access and control of your website, your web site can then be used as a “bot” to attack more valuable web sites.
The reality is that software-driven bots are most likely trying to break into your web site as you are reading this article at this very moment. Whether they will be successful will depend on how hard or easy you have made things for hackers to keep persisting until they can either discover a way to break in, or are forced to give up and go look for a less protected target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Scan Screenshot source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns various results and details about your website …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security scan results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you are able to access all of this information about your WordPress website, then so can hackers.
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Being able to see which 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 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 software versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This particular site was new and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to drive visitors to the site and steal their Paypal account details.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
This example illustrates the fact that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for potential security vulnerabilities …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
The plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, external servers and cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods, automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of essential website protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 allows you to scan your content and files to see whether anything in your files has been modified, and repair the problem …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without providing you anything of value in return).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes step-by-step videos plus training documentation that teach you exactly what to do to protect your site from malicious users …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below 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:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The plugins are really easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugins to your Plugins folder via your administrator section and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free plugins you should install to get the job done.
Some additional benefits of the plugin include:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a website has been hacked, you can expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, blog could be suspended by your host, or even blacklisted in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender hide your site from hackers and malicious bots.
Blog Defender covers the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP 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
- Monitoring Files
- Link Tracking
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process for securing your web site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image: Blog Defender)
User Testimonials
Here are a couple of the testimonials that plugin users have provided for the Blog Defender product suite:
”This is a seriously good product!” 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
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, since Blog Defender’s first release, no sites using Blog Defender have been hacked.
Matt Garrett 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.”
Cybersecurity is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers currently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’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.
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 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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: Current pricing for the Blog Defender plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the product is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Get This 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 site is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, WordPress plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting a security policy such as the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what’s going on in your site and where the security holes 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 WordPress security holes without costly solutions.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender
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