The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and things are only going to get worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’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 legitimate WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot: 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 WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website with a security vulnerability can be seen as a potential opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable blog presents hackers with a resource to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and use your website to defraud online users.
If hackers can break in and gain remote access and control of your blog, that web site can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target other valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are very likely scouring for security exploits and trying to break into your web site while you are reading this right now. Whether they can be successful or not, depends on how challenging you can make it for hackers to keep trying until they work out a way to get in, or decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test will return a number of results and details about your site …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can access all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
The ability 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 in your site can be potentially useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about any potential security vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender
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 creator of the BlogDefender security suit began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This particular blog had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it still was 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 inside the site, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience should be enough to convince you that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your WordPress site are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
The plugin lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud backup solutions using different backup methods, automate full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides your WordPress website or blog with security …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #2 performs a range of site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 lets you scan your files and content to detect if anything unusual has been changed, and repair the problem …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Tutorials Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes step-by-step training in video format and training documentation that will teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
The plugins are very easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get things done inexpensively.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Being Shared Around The Net – If you are a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. As a result, your, website or blog can get suspended by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. And if this is not painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much 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 issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Monitor Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical sequence of steps to help protect your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Image source: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Below are just a few of the testimonials users have submitted regarding Blog Defender:
”Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re too small or not important enough to be hacked! I’ve found out that I’ve had bots in the backend of my sites, making alterations and changing things around, so there’s no telling what damage they’ve caused. I’ve had my main blog for over 3 years now, and the thought of losing all the hard work I’ve put into it is just devastating, not to mention costly! I have a shared hosting plan, so of course once they can get into one site, they can also access the others. Luckily, I now have the procedures detailed within Blog Defender in place so that I can prevent the majority of this ever happening again. Once you’ve secured one site it gets a lot quicker to secure all subsequent sites. With Blog Defender, you get easy-to-follow videos, along with a detailed checklist that you can downloadf. You are literally walked through the process of securing your blog against hackers, which has given me real peace of mind. This is a growing issue that all website owners are facing; so it isn’t going to go away. Prevention is better than cure, particularly as some of the nastier hacks around can literally ruin your business. So do yourself a favour – get your sites protected now, before it’s too late.” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”I sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently. Okay, it was my fault for not securing things more, BUT… I didn’t have a handy, current reference like this to turn to for quick help either.;)” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Useful Tips
According to the plugin’s website, since Blog Defender was first released, no Blog Defender-secured websites have been hacked.
The product developer also 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 presently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender 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 money-back guarantee.
Product 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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: Pricing for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current price at the time this article was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product 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 the current price here:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what type 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 website.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WP software, plugins and themes up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to attacks by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without paying a lot of money.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
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