Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) can be a huge boon to IT departments that need remote administration capabilities for branch offices, remote locations, and workers in the field. But the same qualities that make RDP so valuable for support make it just as useful for malicious activities.

The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in collaboration with DHS, is reminding professionals to be careful with their use of RDP and similar protocols to insure that legitimate users and applications are the only ones sharing desktops in the enterprise. Failure to take proper precautions can open the door to a host of malware, including ransomware from CrySIS to SamSam.

The bulletin from IC3 warns that RDP exploits can be difficult to spot because they require no user input. Constantly monitoring traffic broken out by protocol, limiting the use of RDP, keeping systems current on updates, and moving to multi-factor authentication wherever possible, are some of the key ways to defend against such attacks, it said.

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