The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and the situation is only going to get worse.
It’s probably 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 reported that 160,000+ WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a security vulnerability offers some value to hackers. An unsecured site provides hackers with a platform for launching stealth attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft.
If someone can exploit a way to access and take over your web site, the website or blog can then be used to attack more valued websites.
The reality is that software-driven bots are very likely searching for security weaknesses and trying to break into your web site at this very moment. Whether they will get into your site or not, will depend on how challenging you have made things for hackers or botnets to keep trying until they work out a way to get access, or give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Scan Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will display various results and information about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – website security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can see all of this information about your site, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
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 can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
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 by its webhost. This site was not being used and had literally no value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the site, as well as the addition of several phishing files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Matt’s experience demonstrates that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security weaknesses …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, external servers and leading cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), automate full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides WordPress security …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 provides a range of vital file and site protection functions (see “Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your files and content to see if anything in your files has been altered, and repair any problems detected …
(Source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” 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 people benefit from your content without providing you anything of value in return).
Blog Defender – Tutorials Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes 7 step-by-step video training modules and written guides that will teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from malicious users …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits
Below 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:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The plugins included with Blog Defender are quite easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your administrator account and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying for unnecessary expenses.
Some additional benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Helps Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you’re an information product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a site has been hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, account could be closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. And if that is not enough to have to deal with, 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.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender provides many great features to site owners.
The product helps you fix the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Monitor Files
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process for securing your site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Here are a couple of the testimonials plugin customers have submitted regarding the Blog Defender security suite:
”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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”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
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin’s site, no sites using Blog Defender were hacked since Blog Defender was originally released.
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.”
The war on hackers is is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many premium 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, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.
Please Note: Pricing details of this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product sells for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install These Plugins
No matter what kind 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 web security.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress installation, plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting security policies such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your security responsibilities are as a website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major WordPress security holes without investing in expensive solutions.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress Web Sites
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