The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and the situation is getting worse.
You can safely 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 over 162,000 WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot: 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 WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website with a vulnerability offers some value to hackers. A compromised blog provides malicious users with a valuable resource for distributed attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft.
If hackers can find a way to break in and take over your website or blog, that website or blog can then be used to attack more highly-valued websites.
The harsh reality is that brute-force software bots are probably looking for vulnerabilities and trying to break into your website or blog at this very moment. Whether they will hack in successfully will depend on how difficult you will make things for hackers to keep trying until they either work out how to get in, or decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Check Screenshot: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test will display a number of results and information about your site …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can freely access all of this information about your website, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Being able 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 valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about any 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 protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
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 began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This particular blog was devoid of content and had literally no value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within his server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
This example illustrates the fact that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your WordPress site are …
And let’s you fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender includes three WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud-based solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), do mass text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 performs a range of essential site protection functions (see “Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan WordPress sites to see whether anything has been changed, and repair the problem …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes step-by-step training in video format plus downloadable documentation that will show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
The Blog Defender plugins install like any plugin. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get the job done.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Secure Your Info Products – If you sell digital products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, blog can get closed by your host, or even deindexed in search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many unique features to WP users.
The product helps you fix all of the following issues:
- Host 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
- File Monitoring
- Monitoring Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help protect your your WordPress installation, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials plugin users have written about the Blog Defender solution:
”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
Plugin Tips
According to the product’s site, since Blog Defender was first released, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs have been hacked.
The product developer also 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.”
Cybersecurity is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Plugin 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.
Product Cost
Blog Defender is normally available with a personal license only for use 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.
Please Note: Current pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was correct when this review was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Get This Product
No matter what 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 web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WordPress software, WordPress plugins and themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
For more information, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Suite
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