The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and this is getting worse.
It’s safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’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 reported that 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot: 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)
As reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a 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 offers no value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to gain some advantage at your expense.
If a malicious user can discover a security flaw that allows them to gain remote control of your blog, the site can then be employed as a “bot” to attack larger and more valuable websites.
The reality is that malicious bots are probably searching for vulnerabilities and trying to hack into your website right now. Whether they can break in successfully or not, will depend on how challenging you will make it for hackers to keep persisting until they can find how to break in, or give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Product image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check returns various results and information about your website …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can freely access all of this information about your blog, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
The ability to see what 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 useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and bots.
Blog Defender
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 developer of the BlogDefender security suit developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This particular site was devoid of content and had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside his site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to lure visitors to the site and steal financial information.
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example shows that that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your website are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite includes three plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud storage solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), do bulk text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your website or blog with security …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
The plugin provides a range of vital site protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan WordPress sites to see if anything unusual in your files has been modified, and repair any problems detected …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your work without providing anything in return).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes step-by-step video training and downloadable guides that will teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Source: Blog Defender)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
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 website:
Fast And Simple To Install And Configure
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install just like every other WordPress plugin. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your WP admin section and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins you should install to get things done.
Some additional benefits include:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Secure Your Info Products – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website gets hacked, you can expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, web presence can be closed by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, your contacts could end up being spammed, your subscriber 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 offers many features to website owners.
Blog Defender covers the following security areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Monitoring Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help protect your your WordPress installation, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments that plugin customers have published about Blog Defender:
”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 discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, since the release of Blog Defender, no sites using Blog Defender have been hacked.
Matt Garrett 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.”
The war on hackers is is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers can currently 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 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 no-risk, 30 day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product 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.
Note: The cost to purchase Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin retails for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use These Plugins
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 afford to ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP installation, plugins and WP themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security 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 your websites are 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 complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
***
***