Connecting the MySQL GUI Tools to a Remote Server through a Firewall
http://www.vbmysql.com/articles/security/gui-tunnel.html

Hillyer, Mike
VBMySQL.com
2004

Abstract:

A large percentage of MySQL users are using MySQL on a web server hosted by an ISP. Most hosting providers block port 3306 (the MySQL server port) at the firewall, preventing outside access to MySQL. This is an important security practice and you should be very concerned if your ISP does not block port 3306. In this article I will demonstrate how to connect the MySQL GUI tools, including MySQL Administrator and MySQL Query Browser, to a remote server using SSH port forwarding. This article will be written with the assumption that the reader is using Microsoft Windows, but the principles presented will be applicable to Linux users.