The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and things are getting worse.
It’s probably 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 162,000 WordPress sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites and blogs are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(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 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 website has nothing to offer to hackers, but the reality is that all websites are valuable to a malicious user.
If a hacker can discover a way to gain complete control of your web site, your web site can then be employed to target other valuable websites.
The reality is that software-driven bots are scouring for exploits and trying to hack into your web site at this very moment. Whether they will be successful will depend on how hard or easy you can make it for them to keep persisting until they find how to get access, or give up and decide to look for a less protected target.
How Much Information About Your Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
Does your website run on WordPress? If so visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WP Security Scan Screenshot: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan will return a number of results and details about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – WP security scan results. Product image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can access all of this information about your WordPress website, hackers can too.
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
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 in your site can be valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about potential security vulnerabilities, especially where site owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious users and botnets.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress
Product Description
The product is a suite 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 blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended by its hosting company. This blog was devoid of content and had practically no value to offer, yet it still was attacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had occurred inside his site, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack financial information.
(Image source: Blog Defender)
This simple example is evidence that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for potential security vulnerabilities …
And then shows you how to fix these quickly and easily …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #1 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 (e.g. FTP), schedule full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating websites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your web site with security …
(Source: Blog Defender)
The plugin provides a range of vital site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” scans your website or blog to detect if anything in your files has been altered, and fix any problems detected …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Pro Plugin # 3 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 others benefit from your work without offering anything of benefit in return).
Training Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender suite of products also includes 7 step-by-step video tutorial modules plus downloadable guides that show you exactly how to protect your site from hackers …
(Product image source: BlogDefender site)
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
Here are 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:
Be Up And Running In Very Little Time
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite are very easy to install. Just upload them to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself training product that guides 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 the job done.
Additional benefits of using the plugin include:
- Protect your website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for personal and financial gain at your expense.
- Protect Your Info Products From Theft – If you are an information product creator (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free download sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a site has been hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. Your, website or blog could get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. Additionally, your personal contacts could end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details could be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to lock down your site and keep your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender covers the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- WordPress Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress 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
- Monitor Files
- Link Monitoring
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help secure your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WP themes and plugins, and then helping you implement website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image source: BlogDefender website)
User Testimonials
Below are a couple of the testimonials and comments that users have submitted for the Blog Defender security products:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
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”A top level force against hacker attacks!” Micheal Nicholas, Impact Info Marketing
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no websites protected with the product were hacked since Blog Defender’s first release in 2012.
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.”
The war on hackers is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools developers presently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Product 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, complete money-back guarantee.
Software Cost
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 of purchasing Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price above was current when this review was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin author when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information here:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
The Bottom Line
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 ignore the importance of securing your websites.
WordPress is a very secure web platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, WP plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what’s going on in your site and where the vulnerabilities are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if the security on your website is compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major security risks without costly solutions.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender WordPress Security Plugin
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