The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and this is getting worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’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 sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Screenshot image: 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 described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every blog with a vulnerability offers some value to hackers. If you think that the information in your website or blog is of no interest to hackers, think again. Business sites, personal blogs, government web sites … even web sites owned by web security and anti-hacking experts can and have been targeted.
If someone can exploit a vulnerability and gain any form of control of your site, the blog can then be used as a “bot” to attack other valued web sites.
The reality is that hackers are trying to break into your web site right now. Whether they can successfully hack into your site will depend on how hard you have made it for hackers to keep trying until they find how to get access, or are forced to decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your 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 scan …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Screenshot image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will return various results and details about your website …
(WordPress security scan results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you are able to access all of this information, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
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 can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about potential security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
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 to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This particular site had literally no value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred within the site, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
This example illustrates the fact that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for security vulnerabilities …
And then shows you how to quickly and easily fix these …
WordPress Plugins
Blog Defender includes three WordPress plugins:
The first plugin in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods, perform full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides a range of essential site and file protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” scans your site to detect if anything unusual has been found, and fix any problems it detects …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without providing you anything of value in return).
Blog Defender – Tutorials Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes 7 videos plus downloadable documentation that show you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from malicious users …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Easy And Fast To Install
The Blog Defender plugins are quite easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a practical and useful training product that will take you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free WordPress plugins to use to get the job done.
Additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you’re a digital product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a site gets hacked, you can 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. Your, sites could be closed by your webhost, or even blacklisted by search engines. Additionally, your contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender make your your WordPress website invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender covers the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitoring Files
- Monitoring Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your web site, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
User Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials and comments plugin customers have submitted for the Blog Defender security products:
”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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”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no websites or blogs protected by the solution have been hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
Matt Garrett, the product developer 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.”
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 security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than many 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 Price
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.
Please Note: Pricing for the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was current when this article was written. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin seller when you visit the site and you may be shown 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, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what 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 sites.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, WP plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Adopting security procedures like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what your security responsibilities are as the website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked or compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress website easier.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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