The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and things are only going to get worse.
It’s 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 began reporting that over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked 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)
According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a security vulnerability provides some type of opportunity to hackers. A compromised site not only presents newbie hackers opportunities to improve their hacking skills and claim “bragging rights” from their peers, but it can also be a resource for distributed attacks, spreading malware and information theft.
If a hacker can exploit a weakness in the security, that blog can then be used to attack more valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are scouring for weaknesses and trying to hack into your website or blog right now. Whether they can get in or not, will depend on how challenging you have made things for hackers to continue persisting until they either can work out a way to break in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a less secure 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 scan …
(Website Security Scan Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will display various results and information about your WordPress site …
(website security check results. Image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can freely access all of this information, hackers can too.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
The ability to see which 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 are all potentially useful information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and botnets.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Solution
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular blog was new and had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within his site, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience demonstrates that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly and easily …
Plugins
The product suite comes with three plugins:
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and cloud-based solutions using different backup methods, automate full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new domains or server locations), do mass text replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides your website or blog with security …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin provides a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your WordPress plugins, themes, core files and content to detect whether code in your files has been changed, and repair problems …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” 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 people benefit from your hard work without offering anything of benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender security suite also includes a number of step-by-step tutorial videos and downloadable guides that will teach you exactly how to protect your site from hackers …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Ready To Start Using In No Time
The Blog Defender plugins are quite easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow step-by-step training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get things done.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If your site sells an info product (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a site gets hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, site could get closed by your host, or even deindexed in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender hide your site from hackers and bots.
The product helps you fix the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help secure your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection 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 WordPress security process. Source: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Here are just some testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have written about the Blog Defender product:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”I sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently. Okay, it was my fault for not securing things more, BUT… I didn’t have a handy, current reference like this to turn to for quick help either.;)” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Useful Tips
According to the product’s site, since Blog Defender was first released, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs were hacked.
Matt Garrett, 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.”
The war on hackers is is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers can currently get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Product 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, full money-back guarantee.
Product Pricing
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: The cost of purchasing Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the software retails for the amounts shown above. This 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 you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of securing your sites.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WP core files, plugins and WP themes up-to-date, 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 if the security on your site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without paying a lot of money.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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