The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, 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 before someone attempts to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that 160,000+ WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could yours be next?
(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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a vulnerability provides some type of opportunity to hackers. An unsecured site not only presents hackers opportunities to improve their hacking skills and win “respect” amongst their peers, but it can also acts as a valuable resource for stealth attacks, spreading malware and participating in information theft.
If a malicious user can hack and gain remote access and control of your blog, your website can then be used to target more valued sites.
The reality is that malicious bots are trying to hack into your website or blog as you are reading this. Whether they can break into your site successfully or not, will depend on how challenging you have made it for hackers to continue persisting until they can discover a way to get in, or are forced to give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check returns a number of results and information about your WordPress site …
(WordPress security scan results. Image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to freely access all of this information, hackers can too.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
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 on your server can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about any potential holes or weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious users and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This blog had practically nothing to offer, yet it still was targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to lure unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack their Paypal account information.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
This example is evidence that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Plugins
Blog Defender includes three plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new domains or server locations), do bulk text string replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides your website or blog with security …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of vital site security functions (see “Features” section below).
The third plugin allows you to scan your content and files to detect whether anything has been tampered with, and repair any problems it finds …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content 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).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven step-by-step training modules (video) plus training guides that will show you exactly how to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Quick And Simple To Install And Set Up
The plugins install just like every WordPress plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WP admin account and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a 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 free WordPress plugins you should install to get things done.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Helps Avoid Intellectual Property Theft – If your site sells a digital product (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website gets hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, blog can be closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business or financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender provides many features to WP users.
The product helps you fix the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Hosting 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 Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Link Monitoring
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image: BlogDefender site)
Testimonials
Here are some of the testimonials plugin customers have published about the Blog Defender product suite:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to the product’s website, no Blog Defender-secured websites or blogs were hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
The product developer 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.”
The war on hackers is is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers presently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune 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, 30 day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software 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.
Please Note: Pricing details of the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the product sells for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin developer when you visit the product site 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 Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Buy This Product
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 ignore the importance of securing your web sites.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, plugins and themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what your security responsibilities are as a site owner, 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 how to avoid major security risks without paying for costly solutions.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Web Sites
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