The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, 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 reported that over 160,000+ WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(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)
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 cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your site is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that every website has value to a malicious user.
If a malicious user can find a flaw in your security, that site can then be employed to target larger and more valuable web sites.
The truth is that software-driven bots are most likely scouring for security exploits and trying to hack into your website or blog at this very moment. Whether they can do this successfully depends on how hard you can make things for them to keep trying until they work out how to get access, 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?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Scan Screenshot image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan will return various results and details about your website …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to freely access all of this information, hackers can too.
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Being able to see which version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories can be valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by its hosting company. This site was almost brand new and had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still 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 within his site, 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: BlogDefender.com)
This example demonstrates that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for security vulnerabilities …
And let’s you easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The Blog Defender security product suite comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text in your database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin provides a range of site and file security functions (see “Features” section below).
Plugin #3 scans your files and content to see whether code in your files has been found, and repair any problems found …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender WP security product suite also includes several video training plus written documentation that will teach you exactly what to do to protect your site from hackers …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
For more details go here:
Plugin Benefits
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 site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Use
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite are really easy to install. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a practical and useful 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 WordPress plugins you can use for free to get the job done.
Additional benefits of this plugin include the following:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Banned By Search Engines – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. As a result, your, blog can be closed by your webhost, or even blocked by search engines. Additionally, your contacts could be 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.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to keeps your site and your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender provides fixes for all of the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- 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
- File Monitoring
- Monitoring Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps to help protect your site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Source: Blog Defender)
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials 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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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-secured websites were hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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, 30 day, 100% 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.
Note: Pricing details of Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing above was current when this review was published. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin author when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what kind 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 afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP core files, WP plugins and WP themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
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 if your site is hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without paying a lot of money.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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