The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and things are getting worse.
You can safely assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 160,000+ legitimate WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot image: 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 website or blog has nothing to offer to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites provide an opportunity to benefit at your expense.
If someone can discover a security weakness and compromise the control of your blog, that web site can then be used as a “bot” to attack other valuable websites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are probably looking for weaknesses and trying to hack into your web site while you are reading this article right now. Whether they will hack in will depend on how difficult you will make things for hackers and bots to continue persisting until they discover how to get access, or are forced to decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(WordPress Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns a number of results and details about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the scanning tool that if you can freely access all of this information about your website, then hackers can too.
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
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 on your server can be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Suite
Product Description
Blog Defender 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 began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This blog was devoid of content and so had literally no value to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within his site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and hijack Paypal account information.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Matt’s experience should be enough to illustrate the fact that every website is valuable 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
Blog Defender comes with three plugins:
The first plugin in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #1 lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud-based solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), schedule full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do bulk text string replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Source: BlogDefender website)
The plugin performs a range of site and file protection functions (see “Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” allows you to scan WordPress sites to see if your source code has been found, and fix any problems it uncovers …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 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 content without providing you anything of benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Tutorial Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes a number of step-by-step videos plus training guides that will teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Plugin Benefits
Here 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 web site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Implement
The Blog Defender plugins are quite easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as an easy-to-follow DIY training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Theft – If your site sells a digital product (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you can expect to go through a serious amount of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, account could be suspended by your webhost, or even blocked by search engines. And if this is not painful enough, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details or financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender offers many features to WP users.
The product provides fixes for the following security areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Monitor Files
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help protect your website, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Testimonials
Below are just a few of the testimonials and feedback that plugin users have submitted regarding Blog Defender:
”This is probably one of those times you ask yourself ‘do I really need this product?’ Let’s face it, on the surface it’s not going to immediately put more money in your pocket or even add some cool new gizmo to your site… The truth is yes you do and you need it now. I’ve been in the online business for 10+ years and had my fair share of hacked sites which have cost me time and money (lots of it)…I’ve also seen a good number of people have their reputations and entire businesses left in tatters when their sites have been hacked. Right now is the time to act, because when it’s too late, well basically you’ll be screwed (and you’ll regret the day you passed over such a great opportunity to protect yourself for so little). And by the way, if you think your web host will come to your rescue think again, you’ll be on your own, paying to put things right and suffering the cost of lost sales and business. This is a seriously good product and if you rely on WordPress to make you money online then it’s nothing less than essential. Buy it, follow Matt’s expert advice and don’t end up another victim!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
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“Sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently!” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, since the release of Blog Defender, no sites protected with the solution have been hacked.
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.”
The war on hackers is is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can currently access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Product 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.
Plugin 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 Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was current at the time this article was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the plugin site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price:
Additional Plugin Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Download This Product
Regardless of the type 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 securing your web sites.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and WordPress themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security policies such as the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand 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 process of securing your WordPress installation easier.
For complete details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender
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