The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and it’s getting worse.
You can safely assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked 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 described by 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 website with a vulnerability provides an opportunity to hackers. A compromised web site presents hackers with a valuable resource to launch denial of service attacks, spread malware and engage in information theft.
If a malicious user can discover a vulnerability in your system that allows them to control your blog, your web site can then be employed to attack other highly-valued web sites.
The truth is that hackers are probably trying to hack into your website or blog right now. Whether they will break in or not, depends on how hard or easy you have made it for them to keep trying until they discover a way to get access, or are forced to decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and details about your website …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can access all of this information, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Being able to see which 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 these can inform them about any potential security vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
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 hackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Web Sites
Product Description
The product 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 BlogDefender began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This site had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within the server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and steal financial details.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
Matt’s experience provides the valuable lesson that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security weaknesses in your WordPress installation are …
And let’s you easily fix these …
WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
This plugin lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud storage solutions using different backup methods, automate complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text in your database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your website with security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
The “WP Security” plugin provides a range of essential site and file security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your plugins, themes, WordPress core files and content to see if your source code has been found, and repair any problems found …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
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 hard work without providing you anything of benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven video training modules plus PDF/DOC guides that will teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers …
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
Learn more here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below we have listed just some of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Fast And Easy To Install And Implement
The Blog Defender plugins install just like any WordPress plugin. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your administrator login and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a useful 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 free WordPress plugins you should install to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products – If your site sells digital products (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a website has been hacked, you can 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. Your, website could get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted by 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 much more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender make your your WordPress web site invisible to hackers and botnets.
The product covers the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP 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
- Link Tracking
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps for securing your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image source: Blog Defender)
Testimonials From Plugin Users
Here are just some testimonials and feedback that customers have submitted for the Blog Defender product suite:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”My business is built around the WordPress platform and I’m embarrassed to admin I’ve been slack in the security department. However, Matt’s training soon put that right! I followed each detailed video to the letter and discovered some incredible security tricks and plugins I’d never heard of before. Better still, all the plugins were free to download too! The end result? My WordPress membership site is now locked down tighter than Parkhurst at midnight and if anybody tries hacking it, I’ll be the first to know! thanks again Matt, I’m off to secure the rest of the blogs in my portfolio!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-secured websites or blogs were hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt 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.”
Cybersecurity is an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers can get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many web 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 refund guarantee.
Product Licensing Price
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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the software sells for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin developer when you visit the plugin site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
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.
Use This Product
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your websites is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like making sure that your WordPress software, plugins and WP themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps 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 task of securing your WordPress installation easier.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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