The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and the situation is 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 before someone attempts to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image 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 described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service 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 is an opportunity to gain some benefit at your expense.
If a hacker can discover a vulnerability and gain remote access and control of your website or blog, your website can then be employed to attack other valued sites.
The reality is that brute-force software bots are probably trying to break into your site at this very moment. Whether they can get into your site successfully depends on how hard you have made things for hackers or botnets to continue trying until they can discover how to break in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan will display a number of results and details about your website …
(WordPress 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 about your WordPress website, so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
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 all be potentially useful information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to malicious users and botnets.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Suite
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site had practically nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place within the site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and steal Paypal account information.
(Image source: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience shows that that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security weaknesses in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to quickly fix these …
Plugins
The product suite includes 3 plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods (e.g. Email), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides WordPress security …
(Source: Blog Defender)
This plugin provides a range of essential website security functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 scans your WP plugins, WP themes and core files to see if any of your files have been found, and fix any problems found …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without offering anything of value in return).
Training Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender security suite also includes 7 videos and downloadable documentation that teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from hackers …
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Ready To Go To Work In Minutes
The plugins install just like any plugin. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WordPress administrator section and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins you should install to get the job done.
Some additional benefits 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.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you are an info product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Banned By Your Host – When a site gets hacked, expect to go through a great deal of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, website could get closed by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts can be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Blog Defender Features
Blog Defender provides a number of features to WP users.
The product addresses the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Monitor Files
- Track Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help protect your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
User Feedback
Here are some of the testimonials users have written 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
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-protected websites have been hacked since Blog Defender’s release 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 is a never-ending game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers currently have access to. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, won’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many 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 risk-free, thirty day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software Pricing
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.. Cost = $47.00.
Please Note: Pricing details of the Blog Defender plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the product is selling for the amounts shown above. This may not be the actual pricing set by the software author when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
No matter what 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 website or blog.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, WP plugins and themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your website to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting a security policy like the one that Blog Defender provides, will help 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 site is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major WordPress security holes without paying a lot of money.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Suite For WordPress Web Sites
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