The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is rising, and this is 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 reported that over 162,000 WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image: 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WP websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every blog with a security vulnerability has some degree of potential value to hackers. An unsecured website not only provides newbie hackers opportunities to improve their skills and claim “bragging rights” from their peers, but it can also be a resource for stealth attacks, spreading malware and participating in information theft.
If a hacker can exploit a web software weakness that allows them to gain complete control of your website or blog, your website or blog can then be used as a “bot” to attack larger and more valued websites.
The truth is that hackers are most likely scouring for vulnerabilities and trying to hack into your blog right now. Whether they will break into your site or not, will depend on how hard or easy you will make it for them to keep persisting until they can find how to break in, or give up and decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
Do you own a WordPress site? If so, visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Scan Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the scan returns various results and details about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Image source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you can see all of this information, then so can hackers.
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
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 can all be useful information to hackers, as these can inform them about exploitable holes or weaknesses, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a solution to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to hackers and bots.
Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Websites & Blogs
Product Description
Blog Defender is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of BlogDefender developed BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven site he set up for his mother got hacked into and suspended. This site was devoid of content and had literally no value to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being contacted by his host and seeing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place within the server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting visitors to the site and hijack Paypal account details.
(Product image: BlogDefender website)
This example illustrates the fact that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security weaknesses in your WordPress installation are …
And then shows you how to quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – WordPress Plugins
The Blog Defender security product suite includes three WordPress plugins:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Product image source: Blog Defender)
The “Automated Backups” plugin lets you do secure site and file backups to your server, third-party servers and cloud solutions using different backup methods, automate full or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 provides WordPress security …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 provides a range of vital file and site security functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your website or blog to see whether anything has been changed, and repair the problem …
(Product image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content 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 offering you any benefit in return).
Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender security suite also includes a number of step-by-step tutorial videos plus downloadable guides that show you exactly what you need to do to protect your site from malicious attacks …
(Screenshot: BlogDefender.com)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Benefits
Below are just some of the many benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
The plugins included in the Blog Defender product suite install like any plugin. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugins to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender can be used as a step-by-step training product that guides you through the website security process and shows you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which free plugins you should install to get things done.
Additional benefits of this plugin include the following:
- Protect your WordPress site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you are an information product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blacklisted By Your Host – When a website is hacked, you should expect to go through a whole lot of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through the issues these have caused. During this time, your, website can get suspended by your webhost, or even blocked by search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Features
Blog Defender provides many features to website owners.
Blog Defender addresses the following security areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WordPress Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automating Core WP Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps for securing your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using scanning and detection tools to identify risky themes and plugins, and then implementing website-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Below are just a few of the testimonials customers have published about Blog Defender:
”I’ve had to go through the inconvenience of a hacked blog before and let me tell you it’s not nice. With online security becoming an increasing problem, especially with WordPress, this is a great way to secure your blog. I’ll be following Matt’s training and securing all my blogs…Great job.” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
***
“Sure wish I’d had this before I lost over a dozen blogs just recently!” Kathe Lucas – www.wackycentral.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no websites secured with the product were hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt 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 is a constant game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the knowledge and tools that developers can currently harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost you a fortune 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 no-risk, 30 day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Software 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.. Price = $47.00.
Note: Pricing details of Blog Defender can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. Presently, the plugin retails for the pricing shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the product developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing details:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
No matter what type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, website security is something you cannot ignore.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress installation, plugins and themes, tightening file and data protection and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand 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 which tools can make the process of securing your installation easier.
For full details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender
***
***