The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and this is only going to get worse.
It’s 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 over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(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 described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a vulnerability provides some type of opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable blog provides malicious users with a valuable resource for DDoS attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft.
If a malicious user can access and remotely take control of your site, the website can then be employed as a “bot” in a planned cyberattack against larger and more highly-valued sites.
The truth is that hackers are most likely trying to break into your site at this very moment. Whether they can get in successfully depends on how challenging you can make it for hackers to keep persisting until they work out a way to get access, or are forced to give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
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 Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will return various results and information about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can see all of this information, so can hackers.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender website)
Being able 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 vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Suite
Product Description
The product 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 BlogDefender began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This blog was devoid of content and so had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside the site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack their financial information.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience is evidence that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for potential security holes …
And let’s you fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender website)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides WordPress security …
(Source: Blog Defender)
The plugin provides a range of site and file security functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your files and content to see if anything unusual in your files or source code has been changed, and fix any problems found …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” 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 content without offering you any benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes seven step-by-step training modules (video) and training documentation that show you exactly how to protect your site from malicious users …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
For more details go here:
Plugin Benefits
Here 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 install like any WP plugin. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user area and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow step-by-step training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free WordPress plugins to install to get the job done without incurring extra expenses.
Additional benefits include:
- Protect your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Being Freely Distributed – If you are an information product author (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, 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 has been hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, sites can get suspended by your webhost, or even blacklisted in search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many features to website owners.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Monitor Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, 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. Image source: Blog Defender)
User Feedback
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin users have provided for Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, no websites using Blog Defender have been hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can currently access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’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.
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, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
Product 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.
Please Note: The price of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the plugin is selling for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product seller when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the type 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 site.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, WordPress plugins and WP themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your security responsibilities are as a site owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without paying a lot of money.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress Websites
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