The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and it’s only going to get 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 162,000 WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could yours 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 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 every website is valuable to a malicious user.
If someone can exploit a way to take over your site, your site can then be employed as part of a larger network of “bots” to target larger and more highly-valued sites.
The harsh reality is that malicious bots are probably trying to break into your site at this very moment. Whether they will do this successfully will depend on how difficult you will make it for hackers to continue trying until they discover a way to break in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check returns various results and information about your WordPress setup …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can freely access all of this information about your website, so can hackers.
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Being able 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 in your site are all potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about any exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to malicious users and bots.
Blog Defender Security Plugin
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 blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This site had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it still was targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and hijack their Paypal account information.
(Source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience should be enough to convince you that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security holes …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
The plugin lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 provides a range of file and site security functions (see “Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 lets you scan WordPress sites to see if code in your files has been found, and fix any problems it finds …
(Source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” 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 others benefit from your content without offering anything of benefit in return).
Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender WordPress security suite also includes 7 step-by-step video tutorial modules plus written guides that show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The plugins are quite easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY training product that will guide 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 use to get the job done without paying extra costs.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Protect your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Theft – If your site sells information products (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, websites could get closed by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts could end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides a number of features to WP users.
The product helps you fix the following issues:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Link Tracking
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter 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 scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Feedback From Users
Here are just some testimonials plugin customers have provided for Blog Defender:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Useful Tips
According to the product’s site, since Blog Defender was first released, no Blog Defender-secured sites were hacked.
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.”
Cybersecurity is is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most premium 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, 30 day, full money-back guarantee.
Software Price
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 price of the Blog Defender software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the plugin retails for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install 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 cannot ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP software, plugins and themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being 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, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Suite For WordPress Sites
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