The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and this is getting worse.
It’s 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 began reporting that over 162,000 WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Will yours be one of them?
(Image 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 well-known flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyber attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a vulnerability has some potential value to hackers. An unsecured website presents malicious users with a resource for stealth attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft.
If hackers can find a way to gain remote access of your website, your website can then be used to attack more valuable websites.
The harsh reality is that malicious bots are very likely trying to hack into your blog right now. Whether they will break in depends on how hard you can make it for hackers to keep persisting until they work out a way to get access, or decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security check …
(WP Security Check Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and details about your site …
(Hackertarget – WP security check results. Source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the above tool that if you are able to freely access all of this information about your site, so can hackers.
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
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 on your server are all valuable information to hackers, as this informs them about exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way you can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and help to protect it against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender
Product Description
Blog Defender is a suite of WordPress security video tutorials, plugins and tools, plus a WordPress security PDF/DOC file.
Matt Garrett, the developer of the BlogDefender security suit began to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by its hosting company. This site was almost brand new and had literally nothing to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of what had happened after being informed by his host and noticing that a significant amount of unusual activity had occurred within the server, as well as the addition of a number of malicious files designed to lure visitors to the site and hijack their Paypal account details.
(Image source: BlogDefender site)
Matt’s experience shows that every website has some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you website for security vulnerabilities …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
Plugins
Blog Defender comes with three plugins for WordPress:
Pro Plugin # 1 in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” lets you do automated site and file backups to your server, external servers and cloud-based backup solutions using a number of backup methods, schedule complete or partial backups, exclude files or tables from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), do mass text replacements in your WordPress database, perform auto database scans and repairs, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your website or blog with security …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #2 provides a range of essential site protection functions (see “Blog Defender Features” section below).
The third plugin scans your WordPress plugins, themes and WordPress core files to see if your source code has been tampered with, and repair the problem …
(Source: Blog Defender)
Pro Plugin # 3 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 providing anything in return).
Video Tutorials
In addition to plugins, Blog Defender also includes a number of video training guides and printable guides that teach you exactly how to protect your website from hackers …
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Plugin Benefits
Below are just a few of the benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your website:
Ready To Start Using In No Time
The plugins are quite easy to install. Simply upload the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your administrator section and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is an easy-to-follow do-it-yourself step-by-step training product that will take you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which WordPress plugins you can use for free to get things done without paying extra costs.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data mining tools and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you are an information product author (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on peer-to-peer sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Closed By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website has been hacked, expect to go through a serious amount of inconvenience and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. During this time, your, website can be closed by your webhost, or even blocked in search engines. In addition, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your business or financial information, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender hide your WordPress site from hackers and botnets.
Blog Defender helps you fix all of the following security areas and vulnerabilities:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- WP 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
- Monitor Files
- Link Monitoring
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender follows a logical process to help secure your site, addressing hosting security, using tools to quickly identify risky themes and WP plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Product image source: Blog Defender)
Testimonials
Here are a few of the testimonials and feedback that users have published 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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”In the past month alone, I’ve had 3 niche blogs hacked, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost sales – all of which could have been avoided if I followed the steps in this training. I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than spending months building up a blog, adding posts every few days, and then finding it all gone in an instant. The great thing about these ‘over the shoulder’ videos is that you get to see exactly how to do everything, so it doesn’t matter if you’re technically challenged. Just copy what you see on the screen, and then relax knowing your blogs are safe. (Just one of the tips in the first video alone could probably have prevented my blogs getting hacked) I even noticed one or two tips in there that help with SEO too … so following these videos could even bring your blogs more traffic!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to the plugin developer, Matt Garrett, no websites protected by the product were hacked since Blog Defender was first released back in 2012.
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.”
The war on hackers is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools that developers can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s as good if not better than most web 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, 30 day, 100% money-back guarantee.
Plugin Price
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.
Please Note: The cost to purchase the Blog Defender software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The price shown above was correct when this article was published. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the product developer when you visit the plugin website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing:
Additional Information
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
What We Recommend
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, web security is something you cannot ignore.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like making sure that your WP software, WordPress plugins and themes are kept updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what your security responsibilities are as the website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your sites are attacked, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the process of securing your WordPress installation easier.
For full details, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Plugin For WordPress Websites & Blogs
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