The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and it’s getting worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s inevitable that at some point in time someone will attempt to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Screenshot image: 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 described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your website is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website is an opportunity to gain some benefit at your expense.
If a hacker can discover a way to remotely take control of your site, that website or blog can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target larger and more highly-valued web sites.
The truth is that software-driven bots are probably trying to hack into your blog while you are reading this page. Whether they will do this successfully or not, will depend on how challenging you have made things for hackers or bots to keep persisting until they can find a way to break in, or decide to look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test returns various results and details about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – WP security scan results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you can access all of this information, then so can hackers.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
The ability to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed on your site, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories in your site can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about potential security vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended. This site was devoid of content and so had practically no value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being informed by his host and seeing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place within his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files by whoever had broken into his mother’s site.
(Source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience is evidence that every website is valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for potential security weaknesses …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite comes with three WordPress plugins:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
This plugin lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud solutions using different backup methods (e.g. FTP), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
The second plugin provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
The plugin performs a range of vital file and site protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” allows you to scan your content and files to see whether any of your files have been found, and fix problems …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your work without offering you anything in return).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes training videos and written guides that will teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from hackers and bots …
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
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:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product install like every plugin. Just upload a zip file containing the plugins to your Plugin folder via your WordPress dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get the job done inexpensively.
Some additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Secure your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protect Your Info Products From Theft – If you are a digital product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you should expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, sites can be suspended by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details and financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides a number of great features to WP users.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Tracking Links
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process to help secure your site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin customers have written about Blog Defender:
”This is a seriously good product!” Simon Hodgkinson, www.hodgkinsonpublishing.com
***
”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no websites or blogs secured with the product have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released in 2012.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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 technologies that developers currently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need 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 refund guarantee.
Product 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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: Price details for the Blog Defender plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was correct when this review was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the software developer when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details here:
Additional Plugin Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install The Plugins
Regardless of the kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your website is something you simply cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like ensuring that your WP core files, WordPress plugins and themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, 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 task of securing your installation easier.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress Websites
***
***