The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and this is only going to get worse.
It’s safe to assume that if you haven’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 160,000+ WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Source: BlogDefender site)
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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website or blog is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that all websites are valuable to a malicious user.
If someone can discover a security flaw, the site can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyberattack against larger and more valued sites.
The harsh reality is that malicious bots are very likely trying to break into your website or blog while you are reading this page right now. Whether they can break in successfully or not, will depend on how hard or easy you have made it for hackers or botnets to continue persisting until they work out a way to break in, or give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will display various results and details about your site …
(Hackertarget – website security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can see all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
The ability to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed on your site, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories are all useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potential security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious users and bots.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular blog was almost brand new and had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place within the server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack financial information.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Matt’s experience should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to easily fix these …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
This plugin lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods, schedule full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your web site with security …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your plugins, themes and WP core files to see whether your source code has been tampered with, and repair any problems it uncovers …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Training Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes a number of videos and training guides that show you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from hackers …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Installation Is Easy
The plugins are quite easy to install. Simply upload them to your Plugins folder via your WP administrator login and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a DIY step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins to use to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional benefits include the following:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Secure Your Info Products – If you’re a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Banned By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, websites can be suspended by your host, or even deindexed by search engines. And if this isn’t painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender hide your WordPress web site from hackers and botnets.
The product addresses the following security areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Monitor Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using 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. Product image: Blog Defender)
Feedback From Users
Below are a couple of the testimonials users have written about 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
***
”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no sites secured by the product 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 escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most 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, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
Software 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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: The price of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the product is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of website security.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, plugins and WordPress themes updated to their latest versions, 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 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 WordPress site easier.
For full details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress Blogs
***
***