With telecommuting and remote work on the rise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) usage has drastically increased. RDP allows end-users to connect to organizational systems remotely, ultimately increasing productivity and reducing the need to purchase additional hardware to support those who may work both in the office and at home. While the benefits are plenty, the increased usage has also resulted in an increase in the number of targeted attacks to poorly secured network protocols and services. To combat commonly exploited protocols, the Center for Internet Security, Inc. (CIS) has released guidance to help organizations mitigate these risks to protect and defend against the most pervasive cyber threats faced today that can be exploited through RDP.

CIS’s guide, Exploited Protocols: Remote Desktop Protocol, leverages best practices from the CIS Controls and secure configuration recommendations from the CIS Benchmarks to help organizations secure their RDP from attacks. Each section provides a high-level overview of the direct mitigation for securing RDP, followed by applicable CIS Controls and CIS Benchmarks. The CIS Controls include, and are ordered by their respective mapping to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF).