The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and things are getting worse.
You can safely 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 began reporting that 162,000 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Image source: 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 described 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.
You may think that the information in your website is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that every website has value to a malicious user.
If a malicious user can discover a security vulnerability that allows them to gain access and control of your web site, your web site can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyber attack against larger and more highly-valued web sites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are probably looking for vulnerabilities and trying to hack into your website or blog at this very moment. Whether they will successfully get into your site or not, depends on how challenging you have made things for them to continue trying until they discover how to get access, or are forced to give up and go 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 Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will yield a number of results and information about your website setup …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot: 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, then hackers can too.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
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 valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about any security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and seeing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside his server, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and steal Paypal account information.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience provides the valuable lesson that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress site for security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite of products comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud-based storage solutions using a number of backup methods, perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your site with security …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 provides a range of essential file and site security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” lets you scan your content and files to see whether anything unusual in your source code has been changed, and fix any problems it detects …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 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 others benefit from your work without offering you anything in return).
Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes step-by-step videos and PDF/DOC documentation that teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Learn more here:
Benefits
Below are just some of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Fast Installation
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install like any plugin. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your admin login and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself 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 WordPress plugins you can install for free to get the job done without paying for extra expenses.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Secure Your Info Products – If you’re an info product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Banned By Search Engines – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, site could get closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many features to WordPress users.
The product helps you fix the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- WP 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 Blocking
- Monitoring Files
- Monitoring Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help protect your your WordPress installation, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WordPress themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Below are just some testimonials that plugin customers have written about Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
***
”My business is built around the WordPress platform and I’m embarrassed to admin I’ve been slack in the security department. However, Matt’s training soon put that right! I followed each detailed video to the letter and discovered some incredible security tricks and plugins I’d never heard of before. Better still, all the plugins were free to download too! The end result? My WordPress membership site is now locked down tighter than Parkhurst at midnight and if anybody tries hacking it, I’ll be the first to know! thanks again Matt, I’m off to secure the rest of the blogs in my portfolio!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no websites or blogs protected by the solution were hacked since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012.
Matt 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 is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender 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.
Software Cost
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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: The cost of purchasing the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use This Product
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your web site is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress software, WP plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, 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 sites are hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress website easier.
For more information, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress Websites & Blogs
***
***