The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and things are only going to get worse.
You can safely 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 reported that over 160,000+ legitimate WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image source: 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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every site with a vulnerability can present an opportunity to hackers. No website is safe from being targeted. Business sites, personal blogs, government websites … even websites owned by web security experts can and have been targeted.
If a malicious user can find a software flaw in your security that allows them to gain any form of control of your website, your site can then be employed as a “bot” in a planned cyberattack against more valued websites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are most likely looking for weaknesses and trying to break into your blog while you are reading this. Whether they can get into your site successfully will depend on how difficult you will make things for them to keep trying until they either can find how to get access, or decide to 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 Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan returns various results and information about your website setup …
(WordPress security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you are able to see all of this information, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: 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 can be valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about any potential vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress Websites & Blogs
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This particular blog had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack their Paypal account information.
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
Matt’s experience is evidence that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your WordPress installation are …
And then shows you how to quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite includes 3 plugins for WordPress:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud storage solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. Email), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your WP web site with security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin provides a range of website security functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your files and content to see whether any of your files have been altered, and repair problems …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your hard work without offering anything of benefit in return).
Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender security product suite also includes training videos and written documentation that show you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Below are 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:
Quick And Simple To Install And Implement
The Blog Defender plugins are really easy to install. Just upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get the job done.
Some additional benefits include:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you are an information product author (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Deindexed By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, blog can be closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, your contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender offers many features to WordPress users.
The product helps you fix the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- File Monitoring
- Tracking Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help secure your web site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image: Blog Defender)
Feedback From Users
Below are some of the testimonials plugin customers have published about the Blog Defender solution:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, no websites or blogs protected with the product have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012.
Matt 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.”
Cybersecurity 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 access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many web 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, thirty day, complete money-back guarantee.
Product License 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: Pricing for Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current pricing when this content was written. This may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Buy This Product
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, web security is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WordPress software, plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting a security policy like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your responsibilities are as the website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your installation easier.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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