The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and the situation is getting 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 before someone attempts to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image 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 flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website or blog has no significant value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to gain some benefit at your expense.
If someone can find a flaw in the system, that website or blog can then be used to attack other valuable websites.
The truth is that software-driven bots are very likely looking for security exploits and trying to break into your web site while you are reading this page. Whether they can hack into your site will depend on how challenging you will make it for hackers or bots to continue persisting until they either work out a way to get access, or are forced to decide to look for a less secure 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 check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will yield a number of results and details about your site …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to see all of this information about your WordPress website, so can hackers.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
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 are all valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender Security Plugin
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender began looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This blog was devoid of content and so had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
This example should be enough to illustrate the fact that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your web site are …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes three WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
This plugin lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud backup solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), automate full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 “WP Security” performs a range of website protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” allows you to scan your files and content to detect if any of your files have been altered, and repair any problems detected …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes seven step-by-step training modules (video) plus printable guides that teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here 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 web site:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product are really easy to install. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow DIY step-by-step training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins to install to get things done without incurring extra expenses.
Some additional benefits of this plugin include:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If your site sells an information product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Banned By Your Host – When a website is hacked, 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. Your, web presence could get suspended by your host, or even deindexed in search engines. And if this isn’t enough to have to deal with, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender make your your WordPress website invisible to hackers and botnets.
The product covers the following issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- Monitoring Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help secure your your WordPress installation, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Testimonials From Customers
Here are some of the testimonials and comments that customers have written about the Blog Defender product suite:
”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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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no sites using Blog Defender were hacked since Blog Defender’s original release.
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 escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need 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.
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 no-risk, thirty day, complete 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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: The cost of purchasing Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
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.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot ignore the importance of securing your web site.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WP installation, WP 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 malicious by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your responsibilities are as the website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your installation easier.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite
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