The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and it’s only going to get worse.
It’s safe to 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 began reporting that 162,000 WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot: 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 attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every site with a vulnerability has some value to hackers. A vulnerable blog offers hackers with a platform for denial of service attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft.
If hackers can find a web security flaw, the website can then be used as a “bot” in a planned cyber-attack against larger and more valuable websites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are probably looking for security exploits and trying to break into your website or blog as you are reading this article at this very moment. Whether they will successfully break in or not, depends on how hard or easy you have made it for them to keep persisting until they work out how to get access, or give up and decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Screenshot source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will yield a number of results and information about your WordPress setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to freely access all of this information about your WordPress site, hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender site)
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 on your server can be useful information to hackers, as this can inform them about exploitable security weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
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 got hacked into and suspended. This particular blog had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within his site, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and steal their Paypal account information.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example should be enough to illustrate the fact that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress installation for potential security holes …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud solutions using different backup methods (including FTP and email backups), perform full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to new domains or server locations), do mass text replacements in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides your web site with security …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
This plugin performs a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 lets you scan your content and files to detect if any of your files have been tampered with, and fix problems …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
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 content without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes seven step-by-step video training modules plus printable guides that will show you exactly how to protect your site from hackers …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Quick And Simple To Install And Set Up
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install just like every other plugin. Simply upload them to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free plugins you should use to get things done.
Additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you are a digital product author (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a site gets hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, website or blog can get suspended by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. And if this is not painful enough, your contacts could be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender was designed to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product covers the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Monitoring Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process to help protect your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image source: Blog Defender)
User Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback plugin customers have submitted regarding Blog Defender:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012, no websites using Blog Defender were hacked.
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.”
Cybersecurity is is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools that developers currently have access to. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Blog Defender 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.
Software 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.
Please Note: The cost to purchase the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product sells for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin seller when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
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
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 securing your website.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like making sure that your WordPress installation, WordPress plugins and WordPress themes are kept up-to-date, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your security responsibilities are as a website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress installation easier.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Websites
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