The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and things are only going to get 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 before someone attempts to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 162,000 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot source: 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)
According to security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website with a security vulnerability can be an opportunity to hackers. A compromised web site not only offers new hackers opportunities to improve their skills and win “respect” amongst their peers, but it can also be a valuable platform for launching denial of service attacks, distributing malware and information theft.
If hackers can access and remotely control your website, your website can then be employed as part of a larger network of “bots” to target other valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that malicious bots are very likely looking for security weaknesses and trying to hack into your website or blog while you are reading this article. Whether they will get into your site will depend on how difficult you will make it for hackers or botnets to keep trying until they find a way to break in, or are forced to decide to 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 website through their WordPress security scan …
(Website Security Scan Screenshot source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns various results and information about your website setup …
(WP security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to access all of this information about your WordPress website, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
The ability 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 are all useful information to hackers, as this informs them about any holes or weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Websites & Blogs
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 developer of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This site was devoid of content and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of this after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience shows that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Plugins
The Blog Defender security product suite comes with 3 plugins:
Plugin #1 in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud storage solutions using different 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 databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your website with security …
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
The “WP Security” plugin performs a range of site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 lets you scan your plugins, themes, WordPress core files and content to see if code in your files has been modified, and repair problems …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Step-By-Step Tutorial Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes 7 training modules in video format plus PDF/DOC documentation that show you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from malicious users …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
More info:
Benefits
Below are 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:
Ready To Start Using In No Time
The plugins are quite easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your admin user area and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow do-it-yourself step-by-step 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 free WordPress plugins you should use to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Being Freely Distributed – If your site sells a digital product (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a site is hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, site could be closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. In addition, your contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender hide your web site from hackers and malicious botnets.
The product addresses the following security areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitor Files
- Link Tracking
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Product image source: BlogDefender site)
User Feedback
Below are just a few of the testimonials users have published about the Blog Defender solution:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, since Blog Defender was first released, no sites secured by the product have been hacked.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many web 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, complete money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
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.
Please Note: Price details for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product is selling for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product developer when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, web security is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like making sure that your WordPress core files, WP plugins and WordPress themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major WordPress security holes without paying a lot of money.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Solution
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