The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and it’s getting worse.
It’s safe to 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 began reporting that 162,000 legitimate WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(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)
According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website has no value to hackers, but the reality is that every website has value to a malicious user.
If someone can find a software flaw in your security and take over your site, the website or blog can then be employed as a “bot” to attack more valued web sites.
The harsh reality is that malicious bots are most likely searching for security exploits and trying to hack into your site at this very moment. Whether they can do this successfully or not, will depend on how difficult you can make it for hackers and botnets to keep persisting until they either work out a way to get access, or are forced to decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and information about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – WP security scan results. Image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can see all of this information, so can hackers.
(Product image source: 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 be potentially valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Solution
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site was fairly new and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within the site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
This example should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your WordPress site are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: Blog Defender)
The plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud solutions using different backup methods, schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new 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 WP website or blog with security …
(Source: Blog Defender)
The plugin performs a range of vital site and file security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
The third plugin allows you to scan your web site to see if any of your files have been found, and fix the problem …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes a number of video training plus downloadable documentation that teach you exactly what to do to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Fast And Easy To Install And Set Up
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite are quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WP admin account and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a practical DIY training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get things done inexpensively.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you sell a digital product (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Host – When a website is hacked, 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. During this time, your, site could get closed 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 be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to keep your sites and your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product helps you fix all of the following areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Tracking Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help protect your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Image source: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Below are a couple of the testimonials that plugin customers have written about the Blog Defender product:
”This is probably one of those times you ask yourself ‘do I really need this product?’ Let’s face it, on the surface it’s not going to immediately put more money in your pocket or even add some cool new gizmo to your site… The truth is yes you do and you need it now. I’ve been in the online business for 10+ years and had my fair share of hacked sites which have cost me time and money (lots of it)…I’ve also seen a good number of people have their reputations and entire businesses left in tatters when their sites have been hacked. Right now is the time to act, because when it’s too late, well basically you’ll be screwed (and you’ll regret the day you passed over such a great opportunity to protect yourself for so little). And by the way, if you think your web host will come to your rescue think again, you’ll be on your own, paying to put things right and suffering the cost of lost sales and business. This is a seriously good product and if you rely on WordPress to make you money online then it’s nothing less than essential. Buy it, follow Matt’s expert advice and don’t end up another victim!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
***
”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, since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012, no Blog Defender-secured websites or blogs were hacked.
Matt 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 technologies that developers can currently get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune 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 risk-free, 30 day, 100% 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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: The cost to purchase the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Currently, the software is selling for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the software author when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of the kind 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 web security.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your website is compromised, 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
***
***