The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is massive, and it’s getting worse.
You can safely 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 reported that over 160,000+ WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot 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 reported by 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.
You may think that your website is of little value to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, all websites provide an opportunity to profit or benefit at your expense.
If someone can find a way to break in and gain remote control of your web site, that web site can then be employed to attack other highly-valued web sites.
The harsh reality is that hackers are very likely searching for security exploits and trying to break into your website at this very moment. Whether they can be successful depends on how hard you can make things for them to continue persisting until they discover a way to get in, or are forced to decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – Website Security Scan Product image: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the test will yield various results and details about your WordPress setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security scan results. Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can freely access all of this information, then hackers can too.
(Screenshot: 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 on your server can all be valuable information to hackers, as these can inform them about potentially exploitable security weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive solution that will stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and help to protect it against malicious attacks.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin
Product Description
Blog Defender 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 the BlogDefender security suit developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This blog had literally nothing of value to offer, yet it was still attacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside the server, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files designed to lure visitors to the site and steal Paypal account information.
(Product image: BlogDefender.com)
This example demonstrates that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you web site for potential security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly, easily and inexpensively …
Blog Defender – WP Plugins
The product suite comes with three plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Product image: BlogDefender site)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and popular cloud-based storage solutions using a number of backup methods, automate complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
This plugin provides a range of site protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 scans WordPress sites to see if anything has been tampered with, and fix the problem …
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious scripts have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes videos plus PDF/DOC documentation that show you exactly how to protect your website from hackers …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender website)
More info:
Benefits
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up
The plugins are really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugin files to your Plugin folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as a do-it-yourself training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which plugins you can install for free to get things done without paying additional or unnecessary expenses.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Helps Avoid Intellectual Property Theft – If you sell digital products (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your product can end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, site could be suspended by your host, or even deindexed in search engines. And if this is not enough to have to deal with, your personal contacts can end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and more.
Features
Blog Defender provides many features to WP users.
Blog Defender helps you fix all of the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Hosting Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- Monitor Files
- Monitoring Links
- Block Known Offenders
- Automating Core WP 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 site, addressing hosting security, using tools to identify risky themes and WordPress plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
User Feedback
Here are a few of the testimonials that plugin users have written about the Blog Defender product suite:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no Blog Defender-protected websites have been hacked since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012.
Matt Garrett, 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.”
The war on hackers is an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need 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 no-risk, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.
Note: Pricing for the Blog Defender product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was current at the time this review was published. This may not be the actual price set by the plugin developer when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest price here:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the 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 afford to ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WP software, plugins and WP themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to malicious by hackers and bots.
Adopting security policies such as the one that Blog Defender provides, will help you understand what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid all the major security risks without costly solutions.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Sites
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