Is Remote Desktop safe to use?

[PepperBreath]

When I had XP installed, I used UltraVNC. Now that I have Vista on my laptop and desktop, I tried out remote desktop on my home network and I like it. However, would it be safe to use Remote Desktop from say work or at a coffee shop? Would someone be able to sniff passwords and such?

Thanks.

 

[stash]

RDP is encrypted by default, but you would be better off creating a VPN or SSH tunnel to your network and then using RDP. The same goes for any other similar protocol, like VNC.

 

[nweaver]

Unless you installed the encyption plugin, RDP is safer then VNC.

I would change the port, as 3389 is hit a lot. Also, make sure you use secure passwords.

 

[PepperBreath]

If I use a VPN tunnel, would PPTP be enough?

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: PepperBreath
If I use a VPN tunnel, would PPTP be enough?

Yes.

The biggest issue with RDP (pre V6) is the potential for man in the middle type attacks. Tunneling back to the RDP server takes care of this issue.