The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and the situation is only going to get worse.
It’s safe to 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 began reporting that 160,000+ legitimate WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Image 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a vulnerability has some degree of value to hackers. No blog Business sites, personal blogs, government sites … even websites owned by web security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If hackers can exploit a vulnerability that allows them to gain remote access and control of your site, your site can then be employed to target larger and more valued websites.
The reality is that malicious bots are probably scouring for security weaknesses and trying to hack into your web site as you are reading these very words. Whether they can get in or not, will depend on how hard you can make it for hackers and bots to continue persisting until they can either discover a way to get access, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(Website Security Check Product image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns various results and details about your site …
(Hackertarget – WP security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can freely access all of this information about your WordPress website, so can hackers.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
The ability to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories are all potentially useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about any exploitable vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious users and bots.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This particular blog was new and had literally no value to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being suspended by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack financial information.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
This example shows that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security weaknesses …
And let’s you quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The Blog Defender security product suite comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud-based storage solutions using different backup methods, automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your website with security …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin provides a range of file and site security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 lets you scan WordPress sites to see whether anything unusual has been modified, and fix the problem …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes 7 videos plus downloadable documentation that teach you exactly how to protect your website from malicious users …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Easy Installation
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product are really easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your admin area and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get things done inexpensively.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Prevent Your Info Products From Being Freely Distributed – If you sell information products (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a great deal of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, account could be suspended by your host, or even deindexed in search engines. In addition, your contacts could end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender offers many features to WordPress users.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitoring Files
- Track Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help secure your your WordPress installation, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
Feedback From Users
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback plugin users have written about Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs were hacked.
The product developer also states on his site, however …
“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 perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers presently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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 refund guarantee.
Product 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: The cost of purchasing this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the product sells for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Plugin Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, 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, you simply cannot ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting a security policy such as the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your installation easier.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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