The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and it’s only going to get 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+ WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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 websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website offers little to no value to hackers, but the reality is that all websites are valuable to a malicious user.
If someone can find a way to gain remote control of your website, that blog can then be employed to target other valuable sites.
The reality is that malicious bots are probably scouring for security exploits and trying to break into your website while you are reading this. Whether they will hack into your site or not, depends on how hard or easy you can make it for hackers or bots to continue trying until they work out a way to get in, or give up and go look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Scan Source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will display various results and details about your WordPress installation …
(Hackertarget – website security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to see all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Being able 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 can be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about any security vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Suite
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site was not being used and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and steal their Paypal account details.
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
This simple example demonstrates 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 easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
The plugin lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. Email), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides your web site with security …
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of essential file and site protection functions (see “Features” section below).
Plugin #3 scans your website or blog to detect if code in your files has been modified, and fix problems …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
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 others benefit from your work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes several step-by-step video tutorials and written guides that will teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Quick And Simple To Install And Configure
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install just like any WP plugin. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a 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 everything up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get things done.
Additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Secure Your Info Products – If your site sells info products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you should expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, account can be 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 much more.
Features
Blog Defender was created to keeps your site and your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender addresses the following issues:
- Hosting 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
- Monitoring Files
- Link Monitoring
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help protect your site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Source: BlogDefender site)
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials customers have published about Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.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 plugin developer, Matt Garrett, since Blog Defender was first released, no websites or blogs using Blog Defender were hacked.
Matt Garrett 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 can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many premium 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 risk-free, 30 day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product 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.
Please Note: Price details for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current price when this content was published. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Plugin Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, website security is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress core files, WordPress plugins and themes up-to-date, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
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 hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your site easier.
For more information, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress
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