The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs worldwide is rising, and the situation is getting worse.
It’s probably safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s only a matter of time before someone attempts to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com reported that 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(Screenshot: 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 security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WP sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a security vulnerability provides some degree of opportunity to hackers. A compromised website or blog not only provides wannabe hackers opportunities to improve their hacking skills and win “respect” from their peers, but it can also acts as a valuable resource for distributed attacks, spreading malware and as a source of information theft.
If hackers can discover a way to gain complete control of your blog, the web site can then be used to attack larger and more valued websites.
The reality is that hackers are trying to hack into your blog at this very moment. Whether they will break into your site successfully depends on how difficult you have made it for hackers or bots to continue trying until they can discover how to get access, or decide to look for an easier target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your WordPress Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Website Security Scan Screenshot: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the test returns a number of results and information about your website setup …
(WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using the tool shown above that if you can freely access all of this information about your WordPress website, then hackers can too.
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
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 useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and protect against other malicious threats.
Blog Defender Security Solution For WordPress
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 began looking for a way to develop BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress site he set up for his mother got hacked into. This blog had literally no value to offer, yet it was still hacked.
Matt only became aware of this after being suspended by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside the site, as well as the addition of a number of phishing files by whoever had broken into his site.
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience should be enough to illustrate the fact that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender scans you WordPress installation for security weaknesses …
And then shows you how to quickly and easily fix these …
Blog Defender – Plugins
The product suite comes with 3 plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender site)
The plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, third-party servers and well-known cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), schedule complete or partial backups, exclude tables or files from your backups, restore previous backups, replace URLs (useful when migrating sites to different domains or server locations), search and replace text strings in your WordPress database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin # 2 provides your website or blog with security …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
This plugin performs a range of file and site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
The third plugin lets you scan your plugins, themes, WP core files and content to see if anything has been altered, and fix problems …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender website)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious URLs have been added to your site files, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where others benefit from your content without offering anything in return).
Video Tutorials
In addition to the plugins, Blog Defender also includes videos and PDF/DOC guides that will teach you exactly how to protect your site from hackers and bots …
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Here we have listed just some of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your site:
Ready To Use In Minutes
The plugins install like any regular plugin. Simply upload a zip file that contains the plugins to your Plugin folder via your admin user account and activate.
Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender can be used as an easy-to-follow DIY training product that will take you through the website security process and show you what to do, including how to set things up, and even which plugins you can use for free to get the job done without paying for extra expenses.
Some additional benefits and advantages include:
- Protect your site from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users whose aims is to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Prevent Intellectual Property Theft – If you sell digital products (e.g. downloadable e-books, video training, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up as freeware on download sharing sites.
- Avoid Getting Blocked By Your Web Host And Delisted By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, sites can get suspended by your webhost, or even deindexed in search engines. Additionally, hackers can spam your contact list and steal your personal details and financial information, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender was created to keep your sites and your business safe and secure 24/7.
The product helps you fix the following areas:
- Host Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam
- Monitoring Files
- Link Monitoring
- Known Offender Blocking
- Automate WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender uses a logical process to help secure your your WordPress installation, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then helping you implement site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender website security process. Source: BlogDefender.com)
User Testimonials
Below are a couple of the testimonials and comments that customers have published about Blog Defender:
“You are literally walked through the process!” Nikki Stephens, www.nikkistephens.com
***
”Just one tip could have prevented my blogs getting hacked!” Richard Legg – www.richard-legg.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett, the plugin developer, no websites protected with the solution were hacked since Blog Defender’s release in 2012.
Matt Garrett 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.”
Cybersecurity is an ever-escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers currently can access. The latest release of Blog Defender creates an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require 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.
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 no-risk, 30 day, 100% refund guarantee.
Product Pricing
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.
Please Note: Current pricing for this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The pricing above was current when this content was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Plugin Info
For help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of securing your web site.
WordPress is a secure web platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like keeping your WP software, WP plugins and WordPress themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you learn what your security responsibilities as a website owner 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 which tools can make the process of securing your installation easier.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Plugin
***
Disclaimer: WordPress and its related trademarks are registered trademarks of Automattic, Inc. This site and the products and services offered on this site are not associated, affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by WordPress, nor have they been tested, reviewed, or certified by WordPress. The owner, contributors and/or advertisers may derive financial benefit from sales of items advertised, reviewed, or linked to this site.
***
Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to use the social buttons below and share this post with anyone thinking of starting their own business online.
Like It? Share It:
