RDP (remote desktop) with public/private keys and without password

With SSH (including Powershell SSH), you can install public and private keys, and that allows you to start remote sessions without passwords. Is it possible to do something similar to log into another windows computer using RDP? I know that Microsoft Account can offer passwordless authentication, but that requires an authenticator app on the phone. What I am striving to accomplish here, is certificate/key-based authentication without two-factor auth.

With RDP, you can save the login credentials of remote PC, so when you start a remote session, you are auto logged in.

RDP will not work without a password on remote PC. However remote pc can be set to autologin without entering password using netplwiz, if you are physically at remote pc.

I just connect to my remote pcs and sessions just start - I never need to key login details.

One drawback of RDP over the Internet (shouldn't really be an issue on HOME LAN's) is that RDP isn't a secure connection. You might want to look at VNC on windows.

You can secure RDP by Tunnelling it with SSH as per : (Old link but its still correct)


Puty is another way



For accessing NAS (Linux type systems) as well as SSH you can enable "X" with SSH so that you can logon to the full GUI via SSH.

For Accessing remote Windows systems via SSH you need to enable the SSH-SERVER in windows on the remote system if you want the REMOTE system to transmit files to you --it's installable via the "Add optional features". The SSH-Client is installed by default on Windows (all editions).

Good if you just want command line facilities.

If you want / mainly interested in secure file transfers then simply install filezilla on the various systems. Again if you want the REMOTE Windows system to be able to xmit files whether by SSH or Filezilla you need to enable the SSH-SERVER on the REMOTE sending system (i.e you are RECEIVING files from the remote system).

(If you connect via Network connections and file explorer then cut and paste works normally).

I believe VNC has various options of being more secure than RDP for remote Windows session communications - I might play around with a couple of VM's to try this later.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

One drawback of RDP over the Internet (shouldn't really be an issue on HOME LAN's) is that RDP isn't a secure connection.

Click to expand...

RDP is a secure connection.

Encryption

RDP uses RSA Security's RC4 cipher, a stream cipher designed to efficiently encrypt small amounts of data. RC4 is designed for secure communications over networks. Administrators can choose to encrypt data by using a 56- or 128-bit key.


Remote Desktop sessions operate over an encrypted channel, preventing anyone from viewing your session by listening on the network. However, there is a vulnerability in the method used to encrypt sessions in earlier versions of RDP. This vulnerability can allow unauthorized access to your session using a man-in-the-middle attack(link is external).

While Remote Desktop is more secure than remote administration tools such as VNC that do not encrypt the entire session, any time Administrator access to a system is granted remotely there are risks.

NavyLCDR said:

RDP is a secure connection.

Remote Desktop Protocol - Win32 apps

The Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) provides remote display and input capabilities over network connections for Windows-based applications running on a server.

docs.microsoft.com

Encryption

RDP uses RSA Security's RC4 cipher, a stream cipher designed to efficiently encrypt small amounts of data. RC4 is designed for secure communications over networks. Administrators can choose to encrypt data by using a 56- or 128-bit key.

Securing Remote Desktop (RDP) for System Administrators | Information Security Office

security.berkeley.edu

Remote Desktop sessions operate over an encrypted channel, preventing anyone from viewing your session by listening on the network. However, there is a vulnerability in the method used to encrypt sessions in earlier versions of RDP. This vulnerability can allow unauthorized access to your session using a man-in-the-middle attack(link is external).

While Remote Desktop is more secure than remote administration tools such as VNC that do not encrypt the entire session, any time Administrator access to a system is granted remotely there are risks.

Click to expand...

Thanks

I stand corrected -- although I'm sure that RDP wasn't always a secure method. Your reference to earlier versions of RDP exposing possible vulnerability might have misled me. (Not your post ! but info on the earlier versions of RDP) which is where I'm coming from. One has to be so careful on Internet as it's so easy to post stuff which might have a totally different meaning to readers as to what one intended -- especially if posting in not your primary language.

Good to see W10 and W11 are taking robust security sensibly without going bonkers about it these days.

Cheers
jimbo