The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is increasing on a daily basis, and things are only going to get worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if you haven’t been hacked yet, then it’s inevitable that at some point in time someone will attempt to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that over 162,000 WordPress websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Screenshot source: 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)
According to leading security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber-attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your website or blog has nothing to offer to hackers, but the reality is that to a hacker, every website provides an opportunity to benefit at your expense.
If someone can discover a way to gain any form of control of your website or blog, your blog can then be employed as a “bot” to attack more valued web sites.
The harsh reality is that brute-force software bots are probably trying to hack into your website or blog at this very moment. Whether they can get into your site successfully depends on how hard you will make things for hackers or bots to continue trying until they can work out how to get access, or give up and go look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(Website Security Scan Product image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check will display various results and information about your website …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to access all of this information about your WordPress website, hackers can too.
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
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 can all be valuable information to hackers, as this can inform them about potential security weaknesses, especially where site owners haven’t updated their software versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and bots.
Blog Defender WordPress Security Product Suite
Product Description
The product 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 blog he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This site had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being suspended by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred inside his site, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to lure visitors to the site and steal financial details.
(Source: Blog Defender)
This simple example demonstrates that all websites are valuable to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress site for potential security weaknesses …
And let’s you fix these quickly and easily …
Blog Defender – Plugins
Blog Defender includes 3 plugins:
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, third-party servers and leading cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods, perform complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), do mass text string replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
The second plugin provides your WP web site with security …
(Screenshot image: Blog Defender)
This plugin provides a range of essential site and file security functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” scans your web site to detect whether any of your files have been found, and fix problems …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin # 3 also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without reciprocating the favor).
Blog Defender – Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes a number of video guides plus PDF/DOC documentation that will teach you exactly how to protect your website from malicious attacks …
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
More info:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just some 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 Minutes
The Blog Defender plugins install just like any other plugin. Just upload them to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a step-by-step 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 WordPress plugins you can use for free to get things done.
Additional benefits of this plugin include the following:
- Secure your 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.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you’re an information product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, videos, etc.), your product can end up as freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid A Nightmare Situation – When a website is hacked, you can expect to go through a great deal of frustration and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, account can get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. In addition, your personal contacts can be spammed, your subscriber list and financial details could be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender provides a number of features to website owners.
Blog Defender provides fixes for the following areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WP 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
- Monitoring Files
- Track Links
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighten Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process for securing your web site, addressing hosting security, using scanning and detection tools to 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. Product image: Blog Defender)
User Feedback
Below are a few of the testimonials and comments that users have submitted regarding 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’s website, no Blog Defender-secured websites were hacked since Blog Defender’s first release.
The product developer 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.”
Cybersecurity is is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools that developers currently can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, is quite inexpensive and it’s as good if not better than most premium 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, full money-back 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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: The cost to purchase Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the pricing when this content was written. This may not be the actual pricing set by the product developer when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing here:
Additional Information
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Use These Plugins
No matter what kind of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your website is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting essential maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, plugins and WordPress 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.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your responsibilities as a website owner are, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your websites are hacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your website easier.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite For WordPress Web Sites
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