The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and this is 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.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 160,000+ WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Image source: 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)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your site has nothing to offer to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to profit or benefit at your expense.
If a hacker can exploit a web software vulnerability and remotely control your website, your website or blog can then be employed as part of a larger network of “bots” to target other valuable sites.
The truth is that malicious bots are very likely trying to break into your website right now. Whether they can get into your site successfully or not, depends on how challenging you will make things for hackers and botnets to continue trying until they discover a way to get in, or give up and go look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Website Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan returns various results and details about your website …
(WP security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can access all of this information about your WordPress site, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender website)
The ability 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 be valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
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 began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This particular site was fairly new and 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 suspicious activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and steal their financial information.
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
Matt’s experience shows that that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your website are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, external servers and cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), automate complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides your website with security …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides a range of essential site security functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your content and files to detect if anything unusual in your files or source code has been modified, and repair any problems it uncovers …
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into 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 – Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender security product suite also includes step-by-step training videos plus written documentation that show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Product image source: 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 site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
The plugins are very easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
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 plugins you can install for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Being Shared Around The Net – If you sell an info product (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website is hacked, you can 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, website or blog could be suspended by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. And if this isn’t painful enough, your contacts could be spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender provides a number of great features to WordPress users.
The product provides fixes for the following issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Track Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help secure your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: BlogDefender site)
User Testimonials
Here are just a few of the testimonials plugin customers 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 Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs were hacked since Blog Defender’s release in 2012.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most web 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.
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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: The cost to purchase the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your websites is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress installation, plugins and WP themes up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting a security procedure such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your security responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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