Client's app connecting to host?

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1

Hello, I’m a PHP dev, but playing with C# (Visual Studio 2010) right now, and I have a question about connecting to any hosted database.

Let’s say I own a site called FaceBook2.com and I want to develop an app that will allow users to check in-box without a browser.

Can application connecting from client’s OS to host database be totally secure? What about sniffers, hexeditors and cracking?

What do you think? Any ideas (excepting db user privileges)?

2

That does not give them access to the database, it allows them to interact with the database through a set of rules defined in the API.
Meaning they cannot request anything they like (as they could using your proposed method).

3

Well, but API is going to have a login form and all passwords and logins are stored in the database…

4

You should never allow users to connect to your database!
What you should do instead is create an API.