The scale of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is increasing on a daily basis, and this is only going to get 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.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that over 160,000+ WordPress-powered web sites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are attacked every year! Could your website be next?
(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 security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress web sites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service cyberattack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
Every web site with a vulnerability can be seen as a potential opportunity to hackers. A vulnerable website or blog not only provides hackers opportunities to improve their hacking skills and win “respect” from their peers, but it can also be a resource for distributed attacks, spreading malware and engaging in information theft.
If a hacker can discover a weakness in the security system, the website or blog can then be used to attack other valuable sites.
The harsh reality is that brute-force software bots are most likely scouring for weaknesses and trying to hack into your web site as you are reading this page. Whether they can get into your site successfully or not, depends on how difficult you can make things for them to keep trying until they either can work out a way to get access, or are forced to give up and go look for an easier target.
How Much Information About Your WordPress Site Are You Broadcasting To Hackers?
If you visit Hackertarget.com and run your site through their WordPress security check …
(Hackertarget – WordPress Security Check Product image: Hackertarget.com)
You will see that the scan returns a number of results and details about your website setup …
(Hackertarget – website security scan results. Screenshot source: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this tool that if you are able to access all of this information about your blog, then hackers can too.
(Source: BlogDefender.com)
Being able to see what 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 informs them about any potential vulnerabilities, especially where the owners haven’t updated their files.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can stop broadcasting all of this information about your web site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
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-driven site he set up for his mother had been hacked into and suspended by its hosting company. This particular blog was not being used and so had literally nothing to offer, yet it was still targeted by hackers.
Matt only became aware of the event after being contacted by his host and observing that a significant amount of suspicious activity had taken place inside the server, as well as the addition of several phishing files designed to lure unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack their financial details.
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
This simple example shows that every website has value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where the security holes in your website are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
WP Plugins
The Blog Defender security suite comes with three plugins:
Plugin #1 in the Blog Defender product suite provides automated backups …
(Screenshot source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #1 lets you do automated site, file and data backups to your server, external servers and cloud backup solutions using a number of backup methods, schedule complete 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), do bulk text string replacements in databases, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Pro Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” provides WordPress security …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
This plugin performs a range of essential site protection functions (see “Product Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 scans your WP web site to detect whether anything in your files has been modified, and fix any problems found …
(Source: BlogDefender site)
Pro Plugin #3 “WordPress Scan & Repair” 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 others benefit from your hard work without providing you any reciprocal value or benefit in return).
Blog Defender – Step-By-Step Videos
In addition to plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes 7 step-by-step video training modules plus printable guides that teach you exactly what you need to do to protect your website from hackers and bots …
(Screenshot image: BlogDefender.com)
More info:
Benefits Of Using Blog Defender
Here we have listed just some of the many benefits of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Quick And Simple To Install And Use
The plugins included with Blog Defender are very easy to install. Just upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Really Simple And Easy To Follow Training
Blog Defender is a DIY step-by-step training product that walks you through the website security process and shows you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free WordPress plugins to use to get things done.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Secure your site from hackers, spammers, bad bots, data miners and malicious users attempting to ruin your business for their own personal and financial gain.
- Helps 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 free sharing sites.
- Avoid A Tragic Situation – When a site gets hacked, expect to go through a whole lot of frustration and heartache. It can take days to uncover problems and sort through any issues these have caused. As a result, your, websites can get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted by search engines. And if this isn’t enough to have to deal with, your contacts could end up being spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could end up being fined or even charged with fraud, and a whole lot more.
Features
Blog Defender was designed to locks down your site and keeps your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender helps you fix all of the following security areas:
- Webhost Security Advisory
- Plugin Security Audits
- WordPress Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- WP Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hide WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Block Known Offenders
- Automate Core Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tighter Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical sequence of steps to help protect your web site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to quickly 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. Image source: Blog Defender)
User Feedback
Here are a couple of the testimonials customers have submitted regarding Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”I discovered some incredible security tricks!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Useful Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, no Blog Defender-secured sites were hacked since Blog Defender was first released.
Matt Garrett, 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 an escalating arms race and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers can access. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier WordPress security solution that doesn’t require constant attention, doesn’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many web 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, thirty day, 100% refund guarantee.
Plugin 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.
Please Note: Pricing for Blog Defender depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The above reflects the price at the time this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the plugin author when you visit the plugin 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 Information
For installation instructions 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, you simply cannot ignore the importance of web security.
WordPress is a very secure platform, but neglecting simple maintenance tasks like keeping your WP installation, WordPress plugins and themes updated to their latest versions, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can expose your site to attacks by hackers and bots.
Blog Defender helps you learn what’s going on in your site and where the security holes are, what hosting companies can and can’t do to help prevent your sites being compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and which tools can make the task of securing your WordPress installation easier.
For full details, visit the plugin website here: Blog Defender Security Product Suite
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