The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and the situation is only going to get worse.
You can safely assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 162,000 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Source: BlogDefender website)
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 WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your site offers no value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website is an opportunity to gain some advantage at your expense.
If a hacker can find a way to take over your website, your blog can then be used as a “bot” to attack more valuable websites.
The truth is that malicious bots are probably trying to hack into your web site as you are reading this page. Whether they can be successful or not, will depend on how difficult you have made it for hackers or botnets to continue persisting until they discover a way to get in, or decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Scan Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan will return various results and details about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – website security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can access all of this information about your website, hackers can too.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Being able to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories in your site can be potentially useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender began looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This site had literally nothing to offer, yet it still was targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to lure visitors to the site and steal their financial details.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Matt’s experience illustrates the fact that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your web site are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do bulk text replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #2 provides a range of essential website protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your plugins, WordPress themes, core files and content to see whether your source code has been found, and repair any problems it detects …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
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 work without offering anything in return).
Step-By-Step Training Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender WordPress security suite also includes seven step-by-step video training modules plus training guides that teach you exactly how to protect your site from hackers …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
For more details go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Ready To Start Using In Very Little Time
The Blog Defender plugins are really easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your admin user section and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a step-by-step training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can install for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional benefits include:
- Protect your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Theft – If you’re an information product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, blog could get closed by your host, or even blacklisted in search engines. And if that is not painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides many unique features to WP users.
The product addresses the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps to help protect your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
User Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials users have published about Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”Since working with blogs, I… like many others, have been concerned about how to handle the constant threat of blog attacks. After having a look at Blog Defender you can’t help but become most aware of the vulnerable areas all bloggers need to protect. Blog Defender is viable WordPress blog security prevention system that offers video instruction along with 3 software plugins that are free to download. The instruction shows the optimum settings on how to use the free plugins that will allow you top level force against blog hacker attacks.” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no websites using Blog Defender were hacked since Blog Defender’s release in 2012.
Matt Garrett, 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.”
Cybersecurity is is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers currently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many 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 risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Price
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 cost of purchasing the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software retails for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your site is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress core files, plugins and themes up-to-date, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Adopting a security procedure like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your responsibilities are as the site owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
For more details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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