The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and this is getting worse.
It’s probably safe to 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 reported that 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
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)
According to security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every blog with a vulnerability has some degree of potential value to hackers. If you think that your website or blog is of little value to hackers, think again. Large, medium and small web sites, personal blogs, government websites … even websites owned by online security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If a hacker can find a software security flaw that allows them to remotely take control of your blog, that website or blog can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target other valuable web sites.
The reality is that hackers are very likely trying to hack into your site as you are reading this article right now. Whether they can do this successfully depends on how hard or easy you will make things for hackers and botnets to continue persisting until they either discover how to get access, or give up and go look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Check Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check returns a number of results and details about your website …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can see all of this information, so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
The ability 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 in your site can all be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about any vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Product Suite
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within the site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack their Paypal account information.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience shows that that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for potential security weaknesses …
And then shows you how to quickly and easily fix these …
WP Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite includes 3 plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Source: Blog Defender)
The plugin lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud-based storage solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. FTP), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin performs a range of vital file and site security functions (see “Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your content and files to detect if any of your files have been altered, and fix any problems it uncovers …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without offering you anything of value in return).
Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven video tutorial modules and printable guides that show you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from hackers …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender site)
Learn more here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Implement
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install just like any plugin. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugins to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a DIY step-by-step training product that will take you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits include the following:
- Protect your website 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 From Being Freely Distributed – If you sell an information product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Delisted 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. As a result, your, website can get suspended by your webhost, or even blocked by 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 much more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender was designed to keep your sites and your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product covers the following issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitoring Files
- Link Monitoring
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate Core 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 hosting security, using tools to identify risky WordPress themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image: Blog Defender)
User Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback that plugin users have published about the Blog Defender product:
”Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re too small or not important enough to be hacked! I’ve found out that I’ve had bots in the backend of my sites, making alterations and changing things around, so there’s no telling what damage they’ve caused. I’ve had my main blog for over 3 years now, and the thought of losing all the hard work I’ve put into it is just devastating, not to mention costly! I have a shared hosting plan, so of course once they can get into one site, they can also access the others. Luckily, I now have the procedures detailed within Blog Defender in place so that I can prevent the majority of this ever happening again. Once you’ve secured one site it gets a lot quicker to secure all subsequent sites. With Blog Defender, you get easy-to-follow videos, along with a detailed checklist that you can downloadf. You are literally walked through the process of securing your blog against hackers, which has given me real peace of mind. This is a growing issue that all website owners are facing; so it isn’t going to go away. Prevention is better than cure, particularly as some of the nastier hacks around can literally ruin your business. So do yourself a favour – get your sites protected now, before it’s too late.” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, since Blog Defender was first released in 2012, no Blog Defender-protected sites were 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 is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers presently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender 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.
Plugin 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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: Pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the pricing when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual price 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 Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, website security is something you cannot ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WP core files, plugins and WordPress themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your security responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being attacked, 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 more information, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Sites
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