At the end of January 2005 a new worm-like malware named Forbot spread across the Internet, targeting poorly configured MySQL installations and exploiting them to gain access to the Windows host machines. With a few simple steps MySQL on Windows can be secured to prevent malicious users from accessing MySQL and the data it contains. The key steps are to secure the default user accounts, limit external access, and use strong passwords. Read the article which includes screenshots and sample code : Securing a MySQL Server on Windows