If you are updating a MySQL database on a server open to the Internet, make sure you read up about MySQL security on the MySQL web site. This is a good place to start…
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/Security.html
Incorrectly set up MySQL access can lead to your server being compromised.
Older versions of MySQL may not be as secure as the latest versions, so make sure the version you are running can be secured to a level you are happy to use before you start using it.
Worth repeating several times…
BTW to expand on this…
For the very basics… and as an example:
We try to keep our MySQL Version current which helps to ensure older security holes are patched…
We also ONLY ALLOW connections from our local network, thus blocking access from “outsiders”
And…since I want my WD to connect from an outside connection we set up MySQL to ONLY ALLOW the outside connection specifically from the IP address WD is connecting from…
The above of course doesn’t address everything that can go wrong on the security front but it does help to curtail a number of potential issues…