The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and this is getting worse.
You can safely 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 legitimate WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image: BlogDefender.com)
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)
According to leading 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.
Every blog with a vulnerability can be seen as a potential opportunity to hackers. If you think that the information in your website is of no interest to hackers, think again. Corporate web sites, personal blogs, government web sites … even web sites owned by online security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If a malicious user can exploit a security flaw that allows them to access and control your website, that website or blog can then be used as part of a larger network of “bots” to target larger and more valued sites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are probably trying to break into your website at this very moment. Whether they can hack in successfully will depend on how difficult you have made it for them to keep persisting until they either find how to break in, or give up and go look for a less secure target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Image source: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will return a number of results and details about your WordPress site …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this scanning tool that if you are able to see all of this information about your website, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Being able 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 can all be valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about any potential security weaknesses, especially where the owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender Security Suite For WordPress Blogs
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into. This site had practically no value to offer, yet it still was targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and steal financial details.
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example shows that that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your WordPress site are …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 plugins:
The first plugin in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and well-known cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides your website or blog with security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides a range of vital site and file protection functions (see “Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 allows you to scan your website to see whether your source code has been modified, and fix problems …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without offering you any reciprocal benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender WP security product suite also includes 7 videos and PDF/DOC documentation that show you exactly what to do to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
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 site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Implement
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product install like every WP plugin. Simply upload them to your Plugin folder via your administrator login and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a step-by-step training product that will guide you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free WordPress plugins to install to get things done without paying additional or unnecessary expenses.
Additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Helps Avoid Intellectual Property Theft – If your site sells a digital product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Banned By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, website or blog could be suspended by your host, or even deindexed by search engines. In addition, 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 a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender hide your web site from hackers and bots.
The product provides fixes for all of the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Monitoring Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps for securing your website, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky WordPress themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
Testimonials From Users
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback that customers have submitted for 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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”I sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently. Okay, it was my fault for not securing things more, BUT… I didn’t have a handy, current reference like this to turn to for quick help either.;)” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no Blog Defender-secured sites were hacked since Blog Defender’s release.
Matt also 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.”
The war on hackers is is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and technologies that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost you 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, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: The cost of purchasing the Blog Defender product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the price at the time this content was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Plugin Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Install These Plugins
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP core files, plugins and WP themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your sites are compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress site easier.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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