The scale of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and the situation is getting worse.
It’s safe to assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that 160,000+ WordPress-powered sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Image source: 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)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that the information in your site is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites are an opportunity to benefit or profit at your expense.
If a malicious user can find a flaw in your security that allows them to access and control your website or blog, that website can then be used to target more valuable web sites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are searching for security weaknesses and trying to break into your website or blog right now. Whether they will hack into your site or not, will depend on how hard you have made it for hackers and botnets to keep trying until they can discover a way to get access, or decide to look for an easier 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 – Website Security Check Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the check will display a number of results and information about your site setup …
(WP security check results. Screenshot image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to see all of this information, so can hackers.
(Source: BlogDefender website)
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 on your server can all be potentially valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about any exploitable vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your website and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Suite
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, 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 and suspended by its hosting company. This blog had literally no value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and seeing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack Paypal account details.
(Source: BlogDefender site)
This example shows that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your website are …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with 3 plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: Blog Defender)
This plugin lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud storage solutions using a number of backup methods, perform complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), do mass text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides WordPress security …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of site security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 allows you to scan your content and files to detect whether any of your files have been changed, and repair problems …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
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 hard work without offering anything of value in return).
Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes 7 step-by-step video training modules and PDF/DOC guides that teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from malicious users …
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
More info:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Below we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Implement
The plugins are really easy to install. Just upload a zip folder that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your WordPress admin user area and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a step-by-step 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 WordPress plugins you can use for free to get the job done.
Additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products – If you’re an info product creator (e.g. downloadable e-books, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a website gets hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, web presence could be closed by your host, or even blocked in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business details or financial information, 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.
Blog Defender helps you fix the following issues:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitoring Files
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process to help protect your your WordPress installation, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky WP themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Feedback From Users
Here are just a few of the testimonials that plugin customers have written about 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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”Since working with blogs, I… like many others, have been concerned about how to handle the constant threat of blog attacks. After having a look at Blog Defender you can’t help but become most aware of the vulnerable areas all bloggers need to protect. Blog Defender is viable WordPress blog security prevention system that offers video instruction along with 3 software plugins that are free to download. The instruction shows the optimum settings on how to use the free plugins that will allow you top level force against blog hacker attacks.” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no Blog Defender-secured sites were hacked since Blog Defender was originally released.
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.”
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 provides users with an easier 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.
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, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.. Cost = $47.00.
Note: The cost to purchase the Blog Defender plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price when this content was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing set by the plugin author when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price:
Additional Plugin Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, web security is something you simply cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and WP themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Adopting a security procedure like the one Blog Defender provides, will help you learn what your security responsibilities are as a site owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your site is attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major WordPress security holes without paying for costly solutions.
For full details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender
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