The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and things are getting 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 began reporting that 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website or blog is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites provide an opportunity to benefit or profit at your expense.
If a hacker can exploit a weakness in your security setup, that site can then be employed to target more highly-valued web sites.
The reality is that hackers are most likely searching for exploits and trying to break into your site as you are reading this page. Whether they can get in successfully depends on how difficult or easy you can make it for hackers to keep persisting until they find a way to get access, or decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will display various results and details about your site …
(WordPress security scan results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to access all of this information about your site, then hackers can too.
(Image source: Blog Defender)
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 are all potentially useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about potentially exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite 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 blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site was not being used and had literally no value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being contacted by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack Paypal account details.
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
This example provides the valuable lesson that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your web site are …
And then shows you how to easily fix these …
WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud storage solutions using a number of backup methods, perform full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your site with security …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides a range of site security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 scans WordPress sites to see if any of your files have been tampered with, and fix problems …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes 7 step-by-step video training modules and printable guides that teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious attacks …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Set Up
The Blog Defender plugins install like every plugin. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a DIY 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 things up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get things done.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Secure Your Info Products – If you are a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a site gets hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, site could get closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted in search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender was designed to keeps your site and your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender covers the following issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Monitor Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process for securing your site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Source: BlogDefender site)
Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials plugin users have written about the Blog Defender security products:
”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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”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
Useful Tips
According to the plugin’s website, no Blog Defender-protected websites have been hacked since Blog Defender’s release.
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 is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers presently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many 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 risk-free, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: The price of the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin developer when you visit the product site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use This Product
Regardless of the type 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 website security.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, WP plugins and WP themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security policies like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your security responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your installation easier.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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