The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and it’s only going to get worse.
You can safely assume that if you haven’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 WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Source: 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 security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your site is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that every website is valuable to a malicious user.
If hackers can break in and gain remote control of your website or blog, the website can then be used as a “bot” to attack more valued sites.
The reality is that malicious bots are most likely trying to hack into your website while you are reading this. Whether they can break in successfully will depend on how difficult you can make things for hackers or bots to keep trying until they either find how to break in, or decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Check Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns various results and information about your WordPress setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can access all of this information about your site, then hackers can too.
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
Being able to see what 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 on your server can be useful information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Solution
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack financial details.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
Matt’s experience shows that that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite comes with three plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and well-known cloud solutions using different backup methods (e.g. FTP), perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to new domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your WP web site with security …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
The plugin performs a range of site and file protection functions (see “Features” section below).
The third plugin allows you to scan your WordPress plugins, WordPress themes, core files and content to see if code in your files has been tampered with, and fix any problems it uncovers …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without offering you any reciprocal benefit in return).
Video Training
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes several training in video format plus training documentation that will teach you exactly how to protect your site from hackers …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Learn more here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below 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 site:
Fast And Simple To Install And Implement
The plugins included with Blog Defender install like every WP plugin. Simply upload them to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free plugins you should use to get things done.
Some additional plugin benefits include:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If your site sells info products (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a website has been hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, web presence can be closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. Additionally, your contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender provides many great features to website owners.
Blog Defender covers the following issues:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WordPress 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process for securing your website, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: BlogDefender site)
User Testimonials
Below are just some testimonials plugin customers have published about Blog Defender:
”I’ve had to go through the inconvenience of a hacked blog before and let me tell you it’s not nice. With online security becoming an increasing problem, especially with WordPress, this is a great way to secure your blog. I’ll be following Matt’s training and securing all my blogs…Great job.” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.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, no sites using Blog Defender have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
The product developer 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 tools that developers can currently access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive 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 no-risk, 30 day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product Cost
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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: Current pricing for the Blog Defender plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of the kind 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 site.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP core files, WP plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, 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 which tools can make the process of securing your website easier.
For more information, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Solution
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