The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, 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 began reporting that 160,000+ WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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)
As reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your site has no value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to gain some benefit at your expense.
If hackers can exploit a security flaw and remotely control your site, that web site can then be employed to target larger and more highly-valued sites.
The reality is that hackers are probably trying to hack into your web site as you are reading these very words. Whether they can break into your site successfully will depend on how difficult or easy you have made things for them to continue trying until they can either work out a way to get access, or are forced to give up and go look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Scan Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test returns a number of results and details about your site …
(WP security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can access all of this information about your blog, hackers can too.
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Being able 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 can be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potential holes or weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
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 WordPress Security Suite
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 the BlogDefender security suit began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This particular blog was not being used and so had practically nothing of value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside the site, as well as the addition of several phishing files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example shows that all websites have some 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 – WordPress Plugins
The Blog Defender security product comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do secure backups to your server, external servers and cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
The plugin performs a range of essential site and file security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” scans WordPress sites to see if any of your files have been modified, and repair the problem …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without providing you anything of benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes training videos and printable documentation that will teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
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 website:
Easy, Fast & Simple To Install
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite are really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying for unnecessary costs.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products From Being Shared Around The Net – If you sell information products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Search Engines – When a website gets hacked, expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. As a result, your, site could get closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted in 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.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender was created to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender helps you fix all of the following issues:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Tracking Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process for securing your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials and comments that users have published about the Blog Defender plugin:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no sites using Blog Defender have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released in 2012.
Matt 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 an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers can get their hands on. 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 most premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
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, thirty day, full refund guarantee.
Plugin 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 this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the software is being retailed for the prices shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the product seller when you visit the website 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 installation instructions 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 securing your web sites.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Adopting a security policy like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your security responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your site easier.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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