The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and it’s getting 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 began reporting that 162,000 WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot: 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)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every site with a vulnerability can be seen as a potential opportunity to hackers. A compromised site not only provides wannabe hackers opportunities to improve their hacking skills and claim “bragging rights” amongst their peers, but it can also serve as a valuable platform for distributed denial of service attacks, spreading malware and participating in information theft.
If a malicious user can access and gain remote control of your website, your website or blog can then be used to attack other valued web sites.
The harsh reality is that software-driven bots are very likely trying to hack into your website or blog as you are reading this right now. Whether they can hack into your site or not, depends on how hard or easy you can make things for hackers to continue persisting until they can discover how to get access, or decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check returns a number of results and information about your website …
(WP security check results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can access all of this information about your site, then so can hackers.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
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 in your site can be valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about any holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
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 BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within his site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
This example demonstrates that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your website are …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite of products includes three WordPress plugins:
The first plugin in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and popular cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new domains or server locations), do mass text replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
This plugin provides a range of site and file protection functions (see “Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your WordPress web site to see if code in your files has been tampered with, and fix the problem …
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs 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 reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Training Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender WP security product suite also includes several video guides plus printable documentation that show you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious attacks …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Plugin 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 web site:
Be Up And Running In Minutes
The plugins included with Blog Defender install like any plugin. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your WP admin area and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a practical and useful do-it-yourself training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free plugins you should install to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you’re an info product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, blog could be closed by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, your contacts could end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides many unique features to WordPress users.
Blog Defender provides fixes for all of the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- Monitoring Files
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps for securing your site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Plugin Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments that plugin users have provided for Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
***
”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, since Blog Defender was released back in 2012, no Blog Defender-protected websites have been hacked.
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 constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and technologies that developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’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.
Blog Defender 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.
Software 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.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: Current pricing for the Blog Defender product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was current at the time this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software author when you visit the product site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Plugin Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install The Plugins
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your website is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, WP plugins and WP themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting security policies such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help 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 attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress website easier.
For complete details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Sites
***
***