The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and it’s 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 over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Image: 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)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website or blog has no significant value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to benefit or profit at your expense.
If someone can find a vulnerability that allows them to remotely control your blog, the site can then be used to target larger and more highly-valued websites.
The truth is that brute-force software bots are scouring for security weaknesses and trying to break into your website or blog at this very moment. Whether they will be successful or not, depends on how challenging you will make things for hackers and botnets to keep persisting until they discover a way to break in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a less protected 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 …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and information about your site setup …
(website security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to freely access all of this information about your blog, then hackers can too.
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
The ability 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 in your site can all be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potential vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress 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 had been hacked into and suspended. This particular blog was new and had practically no value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of this after being suspended by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside the site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and hijack their Paypal account details.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience provides the valuable lesson that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, external servers and cloud backup 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 previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides a range of essential site security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 scans your files and content to detect whether code in your files has been tampered with, and repair any problems it uncovers …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
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 work without reciprocating the favor).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven video training modules and training guides that teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
More info:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Ready To Go To Work In No Time
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install just like every other plugin. 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 training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get things done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits include:
- Protect your site 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.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If you’re a digital product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, website can be closed by your host, or even blacklisted in search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts can be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender make your your website invisible to hackers and botnets.
The product helps you fix all of the following areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help secure your web site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot: Blog Defender)
User Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials and comments users 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
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-secured websites or blogs have been hacked since Blog Defender’s first release.
The product developer 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 get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require 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 risk-free, 30 day, complete money-back 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 cost to purchase the product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the product retails for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the product website 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 help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress software, WordPress plugins and WordPress 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 security procedures such as the one that 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 or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without investing in expensive solutions.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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