The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and things are getting worse.
You can safely 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 began reporting that 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image 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)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your site has no value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites are an opportunity to benefit at your expense.
If a hacker can exploit a flaw in your security, the blog can then be used as a “bot” to attack other valued web sites.
The harsh reality is that software-driven bots are probably looking for security exploits and trying to break into your website or blog as you are reading this right now. Whether they will achieve this will depend on how difficult or easy you will make it for hackers or botnets to keep persisting until they discover a way to get in, or decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(WordPress Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan will yield various results and details about your WordPress installation …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can freely access all of this information, so can hackers.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Being able to see which 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 can all be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Plugin
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, 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 site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by the hosting company. This blog was almost brand new and so had literally nothing to offer, yet it still was 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 inside his 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 all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security vulnerabilities …
And let’s you fix these quickly and easily …
WP Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite of products includes three plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud-based solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), do mass text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your website or blog with security …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your WP plugins, themes and WordPress core files to detect whether your source code has been altered, and fix any problems detected …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your hard work without offering you any reciprocal benefit or value in return).
Blog Defender – Training Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes several step-by-step training in video format plus downloadable documentation that will show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious attacks …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
To learn more about this plugin go 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:
Be Up And Running In No Time
The Blog Defender plugins are really easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as an easy-to-follow do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins to install to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you sell info products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, websites can get suspended by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. In addition, your contacts could be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender was designed to lock down your site and keep your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender covers 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
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical sequence of steps for securing your website, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have submitted regarding Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.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
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin’s site, since Blog Defender was first released, no Blog Defender-secured websites or blogs were hacked.
Matt Garrett 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 technologies that developers can currently get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Product 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 refund guarantee.
Plugin Pricing
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: Current pricing for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is being retailed for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the software seller when you visit the plugin website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Download The Product
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your website is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, plugins and WordPress themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you understand what your responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your website easier.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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