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 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 began reporting that 162,000 WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
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 WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a security vulnerability can present an opportunity to hackers. If you think that the information in your website or blog is of little value to hackers, think again. Business websites, personal blogs, government sites … even web sites owned by web security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If a hacker can break in and take over your website or blog, that website or blog can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyberattack against more valued websites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are very likely trying to hack into your web site as you are reading this article. Whether they can do this successfully depends on how hard or easy you will make things for hackers to keep persisting until they either discover how to break in, or give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(WordPress Security Scan Product image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test will display a number of results and information about your WordPress setup …
(Hackertarget – WP security scan results. Image 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 site, hackers can too.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
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 on your server can be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite
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 creator of the BlogDefender security suit developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This site had literally nothing to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being suspended by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside the server, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Source: BlogDefender site)
This simple example should be enough to convince you that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for potential security holes …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and well-known cloud storage solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. FTP), automate full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin provides a range of site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
The third plugin lets you scan WordPress sites to see if any code in your files has been changed, and fix any problems it uncovers …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without offering anything in return).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes training in video format and training guides that will teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
More info:
Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Fast Installation
The Blog Defender plugins install like every other WP plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugins to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow do-it-yourself training product that guides 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 the job done without paying for additional costs.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Theft – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, account can be closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. And if this is not enough to have to deal with, your contacts can 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 more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender make your your site invisible to hackers and malicious botnets.
The product helps you fix all of the following issues:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- WP 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help protect your website, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Testimonials From Customers
Here are just some testimonials plugin customers have written about the Blog Defender product suite:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.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 developer, no websites or blogs using Blog Defender were hacked since Blog Defender’s release in 2012.
Matt also 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.”
Cybersecurity is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools that developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium 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, full refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
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 cost of purchasing Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current pricing when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software author when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details here:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install These Plugins
Regardless of the kind 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 sites.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to attacks by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without investing in expensive solutions.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Solution
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