The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and the situation is only going to get worse.
You can safely 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 162,000 legitimate WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Image source: 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 WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your site provides little to no value to hackers, but the reality is that every website is valuable to a malicious user.
If hackers can access and gain any form of control of your website, that website or blog can then be used to target other valued websites.
The truth is that software-driven bots are probably scouring for security exploits and trying to hack into your website or blog right now. Whether they can do this successfully will depend on how challenging you can make it for hackers or botnets to keep trying until they find how to get access, or decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Scan Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan will display a number of results and information about your site setup …
(WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to access all of this information, so can hackers.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Being able 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 valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite
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 developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by the webhost. This particular site was new and had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting visitors to the site and steal Paypal account information.
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Matt’s experience is evidence that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your WordPress installation are …
And then shows you how to easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender includes three plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
The plugin lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and leading cloud solutions using a number of backup methods, perform complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides your WordPress website or blog with security …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
The “WordPress Security” plugin provides a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
The third plugin lets you scan your plugins, WP themes and core files to see if anything unusual in your files has been changed, and fix any problems it finds …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender WordPress security suite also includes seven step-by-step video training modules plus written guides that teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from malicious attacks …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
More info:
Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Ready To Start Using In No Time
The Blog Defender plugins install like every plugin. Just upload a zip file containing the plugins to your Plugins folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that will take you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get things done.
Additional benefits include:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Theft – If your site sells info products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Banned By Your Host – When a site is hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, web presence could get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. And if this is not enough to have to deal with, your personal contacts can be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender provides many features to web site owners.
Blog Defender covers the following areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WP 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process for securing your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials and feedback plugin customers have submitted for the Blog Defender product suite:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no sites protected by the solution have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released in 2012.
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.”
Cybersecurity is an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers presently have access to. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender 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 no-risk, 30 day, full refund guarantee.
Product Cost
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.
Please Note: Pricing details of the Blog Defender product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing shown above was current at the time this review was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the software author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Buy This Product
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you simply cannot ignore the importance of website security.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WP software, plugins and WP themes 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 vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your installation easier.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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