The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, 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 began reporting that over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Image: BlogDefender website)
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 sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website offers no value to hackers, but the reality is that every website has some value to a malicious user.
If someone can exploit a software vulnerability in your security and remotely take control of your website or blog, the website can then be used to target larger and more valuable websites.
The reality is that brute-force software bots are probably trying to break into your web site at this very moment. Whether they can break into your site will depend on how hard you have made it for them to keep trying until they either discover a way to break in, or give up and go look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will yield various results and details about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – website security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to access all of this information about your blog, then hackers can too.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
The ability to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories in your site can be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about any exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product 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 site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
This simple example should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your website are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The Blog Defender security product includes 3 WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud storage solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), automate full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 provides a range of site protection functions (see “Features” section below).
The third plugin allows you to scan your plugins, themes, WP core files and content to detect whether anything in your files has been tampered with, and repair the problem …
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes training videos plus downloadable guides that teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from hackers …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
More info:
Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits 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 just like every WordPress plugin. Just upload a zip file containing the plugins to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY step-by-step training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free WordPress plugins you should use to get things done.
Some additional benefits of using the plugin include:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Theft – If you’re a digital product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website has been hacked, you should expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. As a result, your, blog can be suspended by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender make your your web site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender addresses the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- Tracking Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps for securing your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WordPress themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials that customers have written about Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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“Sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently!” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, since the release of Blog Defender, no websites or blogs protected with the product have been hacked.
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 never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier 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.
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, thirty day, full 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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: Pricing for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the plugin retails for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the software seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
In Conclusion
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your web sites is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security procedures like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your website is hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your site easier.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite
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