diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index 0bea5e3e1..45cabe201 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ linters:
     - lll
     - gochecknoglobals
     - gocritic
-    - gosec
     - gochecknoinits
     - scopelint
     - stylecheck
diff --git a/crypto/merkle/proof_key_path_test.go b/crypto/merkle/proof_key_path_test.go
index 48fda3032..34c918f4a 100644
--- a/crypto/merkle/proof_key_path_test.go
+++ b/crypto/merkle/proof_key_path_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package merkle
 
 import (
+	// it is ok to use math/rand here: we do not need a cryptographically secure random
+	// number generator here and we can run the tests a bit faster
 	"math/rand"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ func TestKeyPath(t *testing.T) {
 					keys[i][j] = alphanum[rand.Intn(len(alphanum))]
 				}
 			case KeyEncodingHex:
-				rand.Read(keys[i])
+				rand.Read(keys[i]) //nolint: gosec
 			default:
 				panic("Unexpected encoding")
 			}
diff --git a/libs/db/remotedb/doc.go b/libs/db/remotedb/doc.go
index 07c95a56a..93d9c8a29 100644
--- a/libs/db/remotedb/doc.go
+++ b/libs/db/remotedb/doc.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ remotedb's RemoteDB implements db.DB so can be used normally
 like other databases. One just has to explicitly connect to the
 remote database with a client setup such as:
 
-	client, err := remotedb.NewInsecure(addr)
+	client, err := remotedb.NewRemoteDB(addr, cert)
 	// Make sure to invoke InitRemote!
 	if err := client.InitRemote(&remotedb.Init{Name: "test-remote-db", Type: "leveldb"}); err != nil {
 	    log.Fatalf("Failed to initialize the remote db")
diff --git a/libs/db/remotedb/grpcdb/client.go b/libs/db/remotedb/grpcdb/client.go
index e11b7839b..b3c69ff23 100644
--- a/libs/db/remotedb/grpcdb/client.go
+++ b/libs/db/remotedb/grpcdb/client.go
@@ -7,14 +7,6 @@ import (
 	protodb "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/db/remotedb/proto"
 )
 
-// Security defines how the client will talk to the gRPC server.
-type Security uint
-
-const (
-	Insecure Security = iota
-	Secure
-)
-
 // NewClient creates a gRPC client connected to the bound gRPC server at serverAddr.
 // Use kind to set the level of security to either Secure or Insecure.
 func NewClient(serverAddr, serverCert string) (protodb.DBClient, error) {
diff --git a/libs/db/remotedb/remotedb_test.go b/libs/db/remotedb/remotedb_test.go
index 0e7319971..f5c8e2cb5 100644
--- a/libs/db/remotedb/remotedb_test.go
+++ b/libs/db/remotedb/remotedb_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 func TestRemoteDB(t *testing.T) {
 	cert := "test.crt"
 	key := "test.key"
-	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", "0.0.0.0:0")
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", "localhost:0")
 	require.Nil(t, err, "expecting a port to have been assigned on which we can listen")
 	srv, err := grpcdb.NewServer(cert, key)
 	require.Nil(t, err)
diff --git a/libs/db/remotedb/test.crt b/libs/db/remotedb/test.crt
index bdc8a0f29..06ffec1d2 100644
--- a/libs/db/remotedb/test.crt
+++ b/libs/db/remotedb/test.crt
@@ -1,25 +1,19 @@
 -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
-MIIEQTCCAimgAwIBAgIRANqF1HD19i/uvQ3n62TAKTwwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQAw
-GTEXMBUGA1UEAxMOdGVuZGVybWludC5jb20wHhcNMTgwNzAyMDMwNzMyWhcNMjAw
-MTAyMDMwNzMwWjANMQswCQYDVQQDEwI6OjCCASIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggEP
-ADCCAQoCggEBAOuWUMCSzYJmvKU1vsouDTe7OxnPWO3oV0FjSH8vKYoi2zpZQX35
-dQDPtLDF2/v/ANZJ5pzMJR8yMMtEQ4tWxKuGzJw1ZgTgHtASPbj/M5fDnDO7Hqg4
-D09eLTkZAUfiBf6BzDyQIHn22CUexhaS70TbIT9AOAoOsGXMZz9d+iImKIm+gbzf
-pR52LNbBGesHWGjwIuGF4InstIMsKSwGv2DctzhWI+i/m5Goi3rd1V8z/lzUbsf1
-0uXqQcSfTyv3ee6YiCWj2W8vcdc5H+B6KzSlGjAR4sRcHTHOQJYO9BgA9evQ3qsJ
-Pp00iez13RdheJWPtbfUqQy4gdpu8HFeZx8CAwEAAaOBjzCBjDAOBgNVHQ8BAf8E
-BAMCA7gwHQYDVR0lBBYwFAYIKwYBBQUHAwEGCCsGAQUFBwMCMB0GA1UdDgQWBBRc
-XBo+bJILrLcJiGkTWeMPpXb1TDAfBgNVHSMEGDAWgBQqk1Xu65Ww7EBCROw4KLGw
-KuToaDAbBgNVHREEFDAShxAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUA
-A4ICAQAbGsIMhL8clczNmhGl9xZhmyNz6FbLq6g163x9LTgfvwHPt+7urthtd++O
-uy4Ut8zFurh/yk7eooPlzf8jO7QUJBAFVy4vj8IcsvpWbFa7cuEOIulbjIzyAm/v
-lgy7vUQ6xrWn8x8O9K1ww9z7wugwCyl22BD0wSHZKclJz++AwpL6vUVOD76IIuJO
-+S6bE6z26/0ndpundh2AkA++2eIleD6ygnTeTl0PWu6aGoCggBmos50f8KgYHZF/
-OZVef203kDls9xCaOiMzaU91VsgLqq/gNcT+2cBd5r3IZTY3C8Rve6EEHS+/4zxf
-PKlmiLN7lU9GFZogKecYzY+zPT7OArY7OVFnGTo4qdhdmxnXzHsI+anMCjxLOgEJ
-381hyplQGPQOouEupCBxFcwa7oMYoGu20+1nLWYEqFcIXCeyH+s77MyteJSsseqL
-xivG5PT+jKJn9hrnFb39bBmht9Vsa+Th6vk953zi5wCSe1j2wXsxFaENDq6BQZOK
-f86Kp86M2elYnv3lJ3j2DE2ZTMpw+PA5ThYUnB+HVqYeeB2Y3ErRS8P1FOp1LBE8
-+eTz7yXQO5OM2wdYhNNL1zDri/41fHXi9b6337PZVqc39GM+N74x/O4Q7xEBiWgQ
-T0dT8SNwf55kv63MeZh63ImxFV0FNRkCteYLcJMle3ohIY4zyQ==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 -----END CERTIFICATE-----
diff --git a/libs/db/remotedb/test.key b/libs/db/remotedb/test.key
index 14d285584..e1adb3e1e 100644
--- a/libs/db/remotedb/test.key
+++ b/libs/db/remotedb/test.key
@@ -1,27 +1,27 @@
 -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
-MIIEpgIBAAKCAQEA65ZQwJLNgma8pTW+yi4NN7s7Gc9Y7ehXQWNIfy8piiLbOllB
-ffl1AM+0sMXb+/8A1knmnMwlHzIwy0RDi1bEq4bMnDVmBOAe0BI9uP8zl8OcM7se
-qDgPT14tORkBR+IF/oHMPJAgefbYJR7GFpLvRNshP0A4Cg6wZcxnP136IiYoib6B
-vN+lHnYs1sEZ6wdYaPAi4YXgiey0gywpLAa/YNy3OFYj6L+bkaiLet3VXzP+XNRu
-x/XS5epBxJ9PK/d57piIJaPZby9x1zkf4HorNKUaMBHixFwdMc5Alg70GAD169De
-qwk+nTSJ7PXdF2F4lY+1t9SpDLiB2m7wcV5nHwIDAQABAoIBAQCB2/ilPgaUE8d2
-ldqWHa5hgw4/2uCdO04ll/GVUczm/PG1BxAnvYL2MIfcTSRGkrjGZjP9SDZKLONi
-mD1XKDv+hK5yiKi0lUnGzddCC0JILKYEieeLOGOQD0yERblEA13kfW20EIomUJ+y
-TnVIajQD03pPIDoDqTco1fQvpMDFYw5Q//UhH7VBC261GO1akvhT2Gqdb4aKLaYQ
-iDW9IEButL5cRKIJuRxToB/JbmPVEF7xIZtm0sf9dtYVOlBQLeID0uHXgaci0enc
-de6GMajmj7NFqc36ypb+Ct18fqEwQBYD+TSQdKs7/lMsAXwRjd5HW4RbYiMZyYnf
-Dxgh7QVBAoGBAP9aLLIUcIG7+gk1x7xd+8wRhfo+dhsungeCluSigI9AsfDr6dpR
-G9/0lEJH56noZZKQueACTmj7shmRB40xFFLc8w0IDRZCnofsl+Z15k9K84uFPA3W
-hdZH9nMieU/mRKdcUYK7pHGqbicHTaJQ5ydZ+xb2E+zYQHOzYpQacHv/AoGBAOwv
-TjDZSiassnAPYmmfcHtkUF4gf7PTpiZfH0hXHGAb0mJX4cXAoktAeDeHSi2tz3LW
-dAc0ReP8Pdf3uSNv7wkJ1KpNRxAhU5bhnDFmjRc7gMZknVOU+az2M+4yGOn/SOiJ
-I6uMHgQDS/VsI+N583n6gbGxVHbQfr9TOc4bLpThAoGBAKin0JmWMnEdzRnEMbZS
-hPrWIB2Wn794XNws/qjoQ+1aF60+xGhz5etXyYy1nWd1nZDekkZIf62LgKiuR8ST
-xA6u7MGQrcQkID06oWGQQZvhr1ZZm76wEBnl0ftdq66AMpwvt46XjReeL78LbdVl
-hidRoSwbQDHQ61EADH4xsFXVAoGBAISXqhXSZsZ/fU1b1avmTod3MYcmR4r07vnr
-vOwnu05ZUCrVm3IhSvtkHhlOYl5yjVuy+UByICp1mWJ9N/qlBFTWqAVTjOmJTBwQ
-XFd/cwXv6cN3CLu7js+DCHRYu5PiNVQWaWgNKWynTSViqGM0O3PnJphTLU/mjMFs
-P69toyEBAoGBALh9YsqxHdYdS5WK9chzDfGlaTQ79jwN+gEzQuP1ooLF0JkMgh5W
-//2C6kCrgBsGTm1gfHAjEfC04ZDZLFbKLm56YVKUGL6JJNapm6e5kfiZGjbRKWAg
-ViCeRS2qQnVbH74GfHyimeTPDI9cJMiJfDDTPbfosqWSsPEcg2jfsySJ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 -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
diff --git a/mempool/mempool_test.go b/mempool/mempool_test.go
index 9d21e734f..dd624262d 100644
--- a/mempool/mempool_test.go
+++ b/mempool/mempool_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 package mempool
 
 import (
-	"crypto/md5"
 	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ func TestMempoolMaxMsgSize(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func checksumIt(data []byte) string {
-	h := md5.New()
+	h := sha256.New()
 	h.Write(data)
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%x", h.Sum(nil))
 }
diff --git a/tools/tm-bench/transacter.go b/tools/tm-bench/transacter.go
index c20aa5b5b..3347fdfb0 100644
--- a/tools/tm-bench/transacter.go
+++ b/tools/tm-bench/transacter.go
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+
+	// it is ok to use math/rand here: we do not need a cryptographically secure random
+	// number generator here and we can run the tests a bit faster
 	"math/rand"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
@@ -154,12 +157,12 @@ func (t *transacter) sendLoop(connIndex int) {
 	}()
 
 	// hash of the host name is a part of each tx
-	var hostnameHash [md5.Size]byte
+	var hostnameHash [sha256.Size]byte
 	hostname, err := os.Hostname()
 	if err != nil {
 		hostname = "127.0.0.1"
 	}
-	hostnameHash = md5.Sum([]byte(hostname))
+	hostnameHash = sha256.Sum256([]byte(hostname))
 	// each transaction embeds connection index, tx number and hash of the hostname
 	// we update the tx number between successive txs
 	tx := generateTx(connIndex, txNumber, t.Size, hostnameHash)
@@ -257,7 +260,7 @@ func connect(host string) (*websocket.Conn, *http.Response, error) {
 	return websocket.DefaultDialer.Dial(u.String(), nil)
 }
 
-func generateTx(connIndex int, txNumber int, txSize int, hostnameHash [md5.Size]byte) []byte {
+func generateTx(connIndex int, txNumber int, txSize int, hostnameHash [sha256.Size]byte) []byte {
 	tx := make([]byte, txSize)
 
 	binary.PutUvarint(tx[:8], uint64(connIndex))
@@ -266,7 +269,7 @@ func generateTx(connIndex int, txNumber int, txSize int, hostnameHash [md5.Size]
 	binary.PutUvarint(tx[32:40], uint64(time.Now().Unix()))
 
 	// 40-* random data
-	if _, err := rand.Read(tx[40:]); err != nil {
+	if _, err := rand.Read(tx[40:]); err != nil { //nolint: gosec
 		panic(errors.Wrap(err, "failed to read random bytes"))
 	}
 
diff --git a/tools/tm-bench/transacter_test.go b/tools/tm-bench/transacter_test.go
index 03f304605..7379da072 100644
--- a/tools/tm-bench/transacter_test.go
+++ b/tools/tm-bench/transacter_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func TestGenerateTxUpdateTxConsistentency(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for tcIndex, tc := range cases {
-		hostnameHash := md5.Sum([]byte(tc.hostname))
+		hostnameHash := sha256.Sum256([]byte(tc.hostname))
 		// Tx generated from update tx. This is defined outside of the loop, since we have
 		// to a have something initially to update
 		updatedTx := generateTx(tc.connIndex, tc.startingTxNumber, tc.txSize, hostnameHash)
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func BenchmarkIterationOfSendLoop(b *testing.B) {
 	// something too far away to matter
 	endTime := now.Add(time.Hour)
 	txNumber := 0
-	hostnameHash := md5.Sum([]byte{0})
+	hostnameHash := sha256.Sum256([]byte{0})
 	tx := generateTx(connIndex, txNumber, txSize, hostnameHash)
 	txHex := make([]byte, len(tx)*2)
 	hex.Encode(txHex, tx)
diff --git a/types/block_test.go b/types/block_test.go
index 31e7983f2..75b5c19dd 100644
--- a/types/block_test.go
+++ b/types/block_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package types
 
 import (
+	// it is ok to use math/rand here: we do not need a cryptographically secure random
+	// number generator here and we can run the tests a bit faster
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"math"
 	"os"
@@ -162,8 +164,8 @@ func TestBlockString(t *testing.T) {
 func makeBlockIDRandom() BlockID {
 	blockHash := make([]byte, tmhash.Size)
 	partSetHash := make([]byte, tmhash.Size)
-	rand.Read(blockHash)
-	rand.Read(partSetHash)
+	rand.Read(blockHash)   //nolint: gosec
+	rand.Read(partSetHash) //nolint: gosec
 	blockPartsHeader := PartSetHeader{123, partSetHash}
 	return BlockID{blockHash, blockPartsHeader}
 }