The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and the situation is getting worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’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 sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a security vulnerability provides an opportunity to hackers. If you think that the information in your website offers little to no value to hackers, think again. Large, medium and small web sites, personal blogs, government web sites … even web sites owned by online security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If a hacker can exploit a way to remotely control your website, your web site can then be used as a “bot” to attack larger and more valued sites.
The reality is that hackers are very likely trying to break into your site while you are reading this article. Whether they can hack into your site successfully will depend on how difficult you have made things for hackers or botnets to continue trying until they either discover a way to get in, or give up and decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Check Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will return various results and details about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can access all of this information about your blog, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
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 on your server can all be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
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 the BlogDefender security suit began looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into. This particular site had practically nothing to offer, yet it still was targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and steal their Paypal account details.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
This example shows that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your WordPress installation are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud backup solutions using different backup methods, perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your WordPress website with security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin performs a range of vital file and site security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” lets you scan WordPress sites to detect if any code in your files has been altered, and fix any problems it finds …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without providing you anything in return).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes step-by-step tutorial videos and PDF/DOC documentation that teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Learn more here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Here are just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product install just like every WordPress plugin. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugins to your Plugins folder via your admin user section and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which WordPress plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying for additional expenses.
Some additional benefits include the following:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you sell a digital product (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Search Engines – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, account could be suspended by your webhost, or even deindexed by search engines. In addition, your contacts could be spammed, your customer list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides many features to website owners.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitor Files
- Track Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical sequence of steps to help secure your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WordPress themes and WP plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Feedback From Users
Below are just a few of the testimonials customers have submitted for 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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“Sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently!” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Useful Tips
According to the plugin’s site, since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012, no websites using Blog Defender were hacked.
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 is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, doesn’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.
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 refund guarantee.
Software 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: The price of the Blog Defender product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the product is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin author 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 current pricing details:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
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 securing your web site.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP core files, WP plugins and WordPress themes up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what your security responsibilities as a website owner are, 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 site easier.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender
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