The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and this is getting worse.
It’s probably safe to 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 sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Source: BlogDefender site)
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 websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website is of no interest to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website is an opportunity to benefit or profit at your expense.
If a hacker can find a web software flaw, the site can then be used to attack more valued web sites.
The reality is that software-driven bots are probably trying to hack into your website right now. Whether they will successfully hack in depends on how difficult or easy you can make it for hackers or botnets to keep trying until they discover a way to break in, or decide to look for a less protected 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 website through their WordPress security scan …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and details about your site setup …
(WP security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to access all of this information about your site, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
The ability to see which 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 all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about any vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
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 the BlogDefender security suit began looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its webhost. This site was fairly new and so had practically no 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 taken place inside his site, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Source: Blog Defender)
This simple example demonstrates that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security holes …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The Blog Defender security product suite includes 3 plugins:
Plugin #1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
This plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud solutions using a number of backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides WordPress security …
(Source: Blog Defender)
The “WordPress Security” plugin performs a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your files and content to see whether anything in your files has been modified, and repair problems …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 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 work without reciprocating the favor).
Video Training
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender security product suite also includes seven training modules in video format and printable documentation that teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Really Easy To Install
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product install just like every plugin. Just upload a zip folder containing the plugins to your Plugins folder via your WordPress administrator account and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY step-by-step training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free plugins you should install to get the job done inexpensively.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you’re a digital product author (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a site is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, websites can be closed by your host, or even blocked in search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts could end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender offers many unique features to WP users.
The product helps you fix all of the following security areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- 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
- File Monitoring
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Here are some of the testimonials that plugin customers have published about Blog Defender:
”Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re too small or not important enough to be hacked! I’ve found out that I’ve had bots in the backend of my sites, making alterations and changing things around, so there’s no telling what damage they’ve caused. I’ve had my main blog for over 3 years now, and the thought of losing all the hard work I’ve put into it is just devastating, not to mention costly! I have a shared hosting plan, so of course once they can get into one site, they can also access the others. Luckily, I now have the procedures detailed within Blog Defender in place so that I can prevent the majority of this ever happening again. Once you’ve secured one site it gets a lot quicker to secure all subsequent sites. With Blog Defender, you get easy-to-follow videos, along with a detailed checklist that you can downloadf. You are literally walked through the process of securing your blog against hackers, which has given me real peace of mind. This is a growing issue that all website owners are facing; so it isn’t going to go away. Prevention is better than cure, particularly as some of the nastier hacks around can literally ruin your business. So do yourself a favour – get your sites protected now, before it’s too late.” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.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’s site, since the release of Blog Defender, no websites or blogs secured by the solution were hacked.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers can get their hands on. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need 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.
Blog Defender 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 money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
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: Pricing for this product depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was correct at the time this content was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the software seller when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing details here:
Additional Plugin Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Buy This Product
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, WP plugins and themes up-to-date, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security policies like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your responsibilities are as the 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 how to avoid major security risks without investing in expensive solutions.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender
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