The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and the situation is only going to get worse.
It’s probably 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 reported that 160,000+ WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
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 cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website or blog offers no value to hackers, but the reality is that every website is valuable to a malicious user.
If a malicious user can exploit a way to access and take over your website, the blog can then be employed as a “bot” in a planned cyber-attack against more highly-valued web sites.
The harsh reality is that brute-force software bots are very likely looking for security weaknesses and trying to hack into your blog as you are reading this article. Whether they will successfully hack into your site or not, will depend on how difficult you can make things for hackers to continue trying until they can either work out how to break in, or are forced to 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 a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test will display various results and details about your WordPress installation …
(WordPress security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the scanning tool that if you can see all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
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 are all potentially useful information to hackers, as these can inform them about any exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and protect against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the creator of the BlogDefender security suit began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This blog had practically no value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within his server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files by whoever had broken into the site.
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
This example shows that that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security vulnerabilities …
And let’s you fix these quickly …
Plugins
The product suite includes 3 plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do secure backups to your server, external servers and well-known cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods, schedule complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do bulk text replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
Plugin #2 performs a range of essential file and site security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 lets you scan your files and content to detect whether anything has been tampered with, and fix any problems it detects …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been added to your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your hard work without offering anything of value in return).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Tutorial Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes seven video training modules and PDF/DOC guides that will teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Benefits
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Easy To Install
The plugins included with Blog Defender are really easy to install. Simply upload them to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a DIY step-by-step training product that will guide 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 install to get the job done without paying unnecessary costs.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Secure your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Helps Avoid Intellectual Property Theft – If your site sells info products (e.g. downloadable e-books, videos, 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 gets hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. Your, website or blog could get closed by your webhost, or even deindexed by search engines. And if that is not enough to have to deal with, your contacts can end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender provides a number of features to site owners.
Blog Defender addresses the following security areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- WordPress 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 Blocking
- Monitoring Files
- Link Tracking
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical sequence of steps to help protect your web site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have provided 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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”My business is built around the WordPress platform and I’m embarrassed to admin I’ve been slack in the security department. However, Matt’s training soon put that right! I followed each detailed video to the letter and discovered some incredible security tricks and plugins I’d never heard of before. Better still, all the plugins were free to download too! The end result? My WordPress membership site is now locked down tighter than Parkhurst at midnight and if anybody tries hacking it, I’ll be the first to know! thanks again Matt, I’m off to secure the rest of the blogs in my portfolio!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, no Blog Defender-secured websites were hacked since Blog Defender’s release.
Matt Garrett 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.”
The war on hackers is is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information 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 many web security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Plugin 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, 30 day, complete refund guarantee.
Product 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.
Note: Current pricing for the Blog Defender product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the product is selling for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP core files, plugins and WP themes are kept up-to-date, 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 responsibilities are as the website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major WordPress security holes without costly solutions.
For more information, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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