Securely sending data from Arduino to MySQL database via ethernet

Question

I have read some tutorials on about sending data from Arduino to MySQL database via ethernet, such as this one:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Save-data-of-temperature-and-humidity-on-MySQL-wit/

According to my understanding, the method used in these tutorials is using GET to send the data to the server, get the data from the super global $_GET, and then insert the data into MySQL db.

But I do not see any authentication in the process.

Does it mean that anyone who knows the domain name or ip address can insert into the database and therefore alter the data?

That doesn't sound so good. How can I send the data to database while preventing malicious attackers from altering the data in my database?

Answer 1

You can use basic access authentication. See http://php.net/manual/en/features.http-auth.php

Answer 2

I would go the way how it is implemented in ThingSpeak - your Arduino should know the private key to post to the data store.