MySQL runs just about everywhere. I’ve seen it behind small personal projects, internal tools, SaaS platforms, and large enterprise systems handling serious transaction volume. When your database sits at the center of everything, it becomes part of your security perimeter whether you planned it that way or not. And that makes it a target.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://percona.community/blog/2026/03/02/hardening-mysql-practical-security-strategies-for-dbas