Give Hackers the Smack-Down with Defender

Another week, another HUGE product release. Today, we’re excited to introduce you to Defender, our brand new security plugin… the hero that will defend you against evil bots, hackers and bad internet-y things.

What does Defender do for you? Well, let’s start with scheduled security scans, vulnerability reports, safety recommendations, blacklist monitoring and customized hardening for your site… in just a few clicks.

Defender is the analyst and enforcer that never sleeps, offering expert site security protection for your site all from a simple, easy to use control center. Cloak files, limit access points and monitor changes. And if Defender detects any suspicious behavior in your system files you’ll hear about it first with a warning direct to your inbox so you can respond quickly.

Defender: The Enforcer That Never Sleeps

Defender is our in-house solution to the challenge of WordPress security.

Here are a few questions for you to consider:

Just how secure is your site? Is your password strong enough? Are your themes and plugins up-to-date? Are you running the latest version of WordPress? Do you have any security plugins installed? Can you say with 100% certainty that there are no malicious files on your server? Have you ever been hacked? Are you sure about that?

If you think you’re not going to get hacked, think again. According to WP White Security, more than 70% of WordPress installations are vulnerable to hacker attacks.

It’s easy to become complacent. After all, putting in place security measures on your site is complicated and takes time, right?

Not so. We designed Defender with ease-of-use and versatility in mind so anyone can use it. Installation takes a second, you can run a scan of your entire site with just one click, and going through the options to harden up your site is actually fun (you’ll know what I mean when you install the plugin!).

Defender isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to security. The plugin analyzes your site and makes suggestions with clear advice and actionable steps for the most effective layered security measures used by the pros.

Hardening

Check for common issues that can leave you open to security threats, things like not renaming your database prefix, allowing PHP files in the upload directory, and leaving the default admin username unchanged.

If Defender picks up on any vulnerabilities with your site, you’ll be given a list of actions you should take to close any loopholes in your WordPress security. You’ll also get clear and detailed explanations to help you understand the impact of any potential threats.

But you know what the best thing about Defender’s hardening feature is? The ability to fix any issues with just one-click. And if you change your mind about a fix you’ve made, you can always revert your changes. Easy.

Security Scans

Defender scans through each file in your WordPress installation looking for malicious code. If any suspicious files are found, you can choose to resolve the issues, trash the file, or even let Defender know it’s a false alarm.

These scans can be run on-demand or set up to run on schedule as frequently as every day, or just once a month on a day and at a time that’s convenient to you and your traffic.

You’ll even get an email after each scan is completed to let you know if Defender has picked up on any potential problems. If any vulnerabilities are detected, you’ll receive a recommendation report with simple actionable steps you can take to clean up your site.

Blacklist Monitoring

If your site is ever compromised and Google is the first to notice, you’ll be blacklisted – and you can expect your traffic and reputation to take a dive. Every time someone tries to visit your site, they will get a big, red warning that your site has been compromised.

Defender keeps an eye on Google’s blacklist at all times and lets you know if your site ever ends up being listed. So if Google ever sets its sights on you, you can act quickly to resolve any issues with your site and get back in the search engine’s good graces.

Secure Backups

Pair Defender with our powerful and easy to use backup plugin Snapshot for even more peace of mind. After all, no one plans to be hacked or for their server to crash.

Grab snapshots of your database and files so that if worse comes to worst, you can restore your site to a point before it was compromised.

Create manual backups as needed or schedule automated backups. Set up monthly, daily or hourly backups and save as many snapshots of your site as you want, all with convenient one-click restoration. Save directly to your favorite cloud services including Dropbox, Amazon S3, and Google Drive or by FTP/SFTP for added security.

Just the Beginning

We’ve had a crack team working on this for the past 6 months, we’re utilizing the latest WordPress security databases and resources, and cross-checking Defender against every other security plugin out there to make sure that you’re getting the best of the best protection.

But that doesn’t mean we’re done, noooooo, not by a long shot.

We’re already set for massive improvements to Defender be rolled out in the next couple of months, including automated remote backup and restore services, along with security auditing… Watch this space. And beyond that, we’re absolutely committed to enhancing, improving and updating our security services based off of our members’ requirements – just let us know what you want to see as, like always at WPMU DEV, we’re here for our members.

So, Download Defender and see for yourself how our security plugin can help you give hackers the smack-down.