The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and the situation is only going to get worse.
It’s probably 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 over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(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 flaw to attack unsuspecting WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website provides no 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 exploit a way to access and control your site, that website can then be used as a “bot” to attack more highly-valued websites.
The truth is that malicious bots are most likely trying to hack into your web site right now. Whether they will get in successfully or not, depends on how hard you have made it for hackers to keep trying until they work out 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 Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Scan Screenshot image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check returns a number of results and information about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can see all of this information about your website, so can hackers.
(Screenshot: 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 in your site are all useful information to hackers, as this informs them about any potential vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious users and bots.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
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 the BlogDefender security suit developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This particular site had practically no value to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
This simple example shows that that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for security holes …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud-based solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. FTP), perform complete 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 malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your website with security …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of website protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
The third plugin lets you scan your plugins, WordPress themes and core files to detect whether any of your files have been tampered with, and repair the problem …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes several step-by-step videos plus printable guides that will teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious users …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Here are just some of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Very Easy To Install
The plugins install just like every other plugin. Simply upload them to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free WordPress plugins you should use to get the job done without incurring additional expenses.
Some additional benefits include:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, 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 your site sells info products (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Banned By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, blog could get suspended by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product addresses the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitoring Files
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps to help secure your web site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback that users have written about the Blog Defender plugin:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012, no websites secured with the solution were hacked.
Matt also 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 knowledge and tools developers presently have access to. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier 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, thirty day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Price
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 of purchasing the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was current at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin author when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information:
Additional Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your sites is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP software, plugins and WP themes up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting a security policy like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your website is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your installation easier.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress
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