The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and this is getting worse.
It’s safe to 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 websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Image source: 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 reported by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every website or blog with a security vulnerability provides an opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable web site not only provides newbie hackers opportunities to improve their hacking skills and win “respect” among their peers, but it can also be a valuable resource for launching denial of service attacks, distributing malware and information theft.
If someone can find a security flaw that allows them to take over and control your web site, the blog can then be employed as a “bot” to attack other valuable websites.
The reality is that malicious bots are very likely trying to hack into your website right now. Whether they will be successful depends on how difficult or easy you have made it for hackers and botnets to keep persisting until they can discover how to get in, or are forced to give up and decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(WP Security Scan Screenshot image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will display various results and information about your site …
(WP security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you are able to see all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender site)
The ability to see which 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 be valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their sites.
Fortunately, there is a solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into. This blog was not being used and had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place within his server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack Paypal account details.
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
This example illustrates the fact that all websites have value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your WordPress site are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin lets you do secure site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods, perform complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), do bulk text string replacements in databases, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
The plugin performs a range of site and file security functions (see “Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” scans WordPress sites to see if any of your files have been modified, and fix problems …
(Product image source: 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 hard work without reciprocating the favor).
Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes several training videos and training documentation that teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more:
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The Blog Defender plugins are very easy to install. Simply upload a zip folder containing the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your administrator account and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a practical training product that takes 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 things done without incurring unnecessary expenses.
Additional benefits of the plugin include the following:
- Secure your website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Secure Your Info Products – If your site sells info products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, websites could be closed by your webhost, or even blocked by search engines. And if this isn’t enough to have to deal with, your personal contacts could end up being spammed, your subscriber list and financial details can be stolen, 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 web site owners.
The product covers the following security areas:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Tracking Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical sequence of steps to help protect your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to quickly identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender WordPress security process. Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Testimonials
Below are a few of the testimonials and feedback plugin users have written about the Blog Defender product:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, since Blog Defender’s first release, no websites secured with the product have been hacked.
The product developer 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 knowledge and tools that developers currently have access to. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most web 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, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
Software Pricing
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.
Please Note: The cost of purchasing the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the current price when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the product author when you visit the product site and there may be 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.
Download This Product
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 platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, WordPress plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your security responsibilities as a website owner 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 which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress website easier.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender
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