Re: Does MySQL offer any encryption for external connections?

[Georgi Kodinov]

I will ignore the fact that you're seeking help for a different product (one that we do not directly support or follow) on the MySQL forums and will answer for the MySQL server product.

MySQL does offer encrypted connections via the industry standard SSL/TLS encryption libraries.
However it doesn't really offer any of the advanced protection tools e.g. web servers offer to avoid DoS etc.
This is because the industry practice is not to be exposing a database listening port to the Internet. Usually the database is kept behind a firewall that provides the above mentioned protection.

So what your hosting provider and the other reply are telling you is correct. It's a good idea not to expose your database port on the Internet.

Please look into a VPN solution or (as suggested) using openSSH tunneling.
See https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/windows-and-ssh.html for more details.

Georgi "Joro" Kodinov
MySQL SrvGen team lead
Plovdiv, Bulgaria