The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and this is getting worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’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 over 162,000 legitimate WordPress web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot 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 cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website or blog is of no interest to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to gain some advantage at your expense.
If a malicious user can exploit a vulnerability, your web site can then be used to target more valuable web sites.
The truth is that software-driven bots are very likely trying to break into your website or blog right now. Whether they can be successful depends on how hard or easy you will make it for hackers and bots to keep trying until they can either work out a way to break in, or are forced to decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Scan Screenshot source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan returns various results and information about your website …
(website security check results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to see all of this information, hackers can too.
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
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 all be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This blog had practically 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 suspicious activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several phishing files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Matt’s experience should be enough to convince you that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress installation for potential security weaknesses …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 WordPress plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, external servers and well-known cloud-based storage solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. FTP), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
The “WP Security” plugin performs a range of essential website protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” lets you scan your website or blog to detect whether any of your files have been altered, and fix problems …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without offering any reciprocal value or benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Video Training
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender security product suite also includes step-by-step training in video format and printable guides that teach you exactly how to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits
Below we have listed just some of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Ready To Start Using In No Time
The Blog Defender plugins install like every WP plugin. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your administrator login and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a step-by-step training product that takes you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free WordPress plugins you should install to get things done.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you are an information product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Banned By Your Host – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, blog could get suspended by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender hide your website from hackers and bots.
Blog Defender covers the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- File Monitoring
- Monitoring Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help secure your site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials customers have published 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 the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-protected websites or blogs were hacked since Blog Defender’s release.
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 an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers currently 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 many 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, thirty day, complete money-back guarantee.
Software 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.
Note: Price details for the Blog Defender plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the pricing at the time this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price set 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 current pricing details:
Additional Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
We Recommend
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 web security.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WordPress core files, plugins and themes are kept up-to-date, 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 that Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your responsibilities are as a website owner, 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 WordPress site easier.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Suite
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