The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and it’s getting worse.
You can safely assume that if you haven’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 reported that over 162,000 legitimate WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours 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)
According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every blog with a vulnerability offers some value to hackers. If you think that your website or blog offers little to no value to hackers, think again. Large, medium and small business websites, personal blogs, government sites … even web sites owned by web security experts can and have been targeted.
If someone can discover a vulnerability in your security system, the web site can then be employed to attack more valuable web sites.
The reality is that hackers are probably trying to hack into your blog as you are reading this article. Whether they can get in will depend on how hard you will make it for hackers to continue persisting until they can either find how to get in, or give up and decide to look for a more vulnerable 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 website through their WordPress security check …
(WP Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will display a number of results and information about your website setup …
(WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to see all of this information about your blog, hackers can too.
(Image source: 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 can be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about any potential security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious users and botnets.
Blog Defender
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress 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 blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This blog had literally nothing to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to lure unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack their financial information.
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience provides the valuable lesson that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for potential security weaknesses …
And let’s you quickly and easily fix these …
WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender includes three WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. FTP), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore 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 …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 “WP Security” performs a range of vital file and site protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
The third plugin allows you to scan WordPress sites to detect whether any code in your files has been altered, and fix problems …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without providing you anything in return).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes videos and training documentation that show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Ready To Go To Work In No Time
The Blog Defender plugins are really easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a practical and useful DIY training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get the job done without incurring additional costs.
Additional benefits include the following:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you are an info product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a site has been hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, web presence could get closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. Additionally, your contacts can end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender make your your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- File Monitoring
- Track Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process for securing your web site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin users have provided for Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
***
”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no websites protected with the product were hacked since Blog Defender was first released in 2012.
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.”
The war on hackers is an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers presently have access to. 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 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 risk-free, thirty day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin 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: Current pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the software is selling for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software 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 current pricing details:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
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 website or blog is something you cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WP software, plugins and themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Adopting a security policy like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your site easier.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
***
***