Enabling SSL for Remote Desktop

Solution 1:

From TechNet:

A certificate is needed to authenticate an RD Session Host server when SSL (TLS 1.0) is used to secure communication between a client and an RD Session Host server during RDP connections. You can select a certificate that you have already installed on the RD Session Host server, or you can use the default self-signed certificate. You can enable SSL for Remote Desktop connections using the RDP-Tcp Properties dialog box, which is accessed from the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration snap-in.

By default, Remote Desktop connections are encrypted at the highest level of security available (128-bit). However, some older versions of the Remote Desktop Connection client application do not support this high level of encryption. If a high level of encryption is needed to support legacy clients, the encryption level of the connection can be configured to send and receive data at the highest encryption level supported by the client.

There are four levels of encryption available:

Low
Data sent from the client to the server is encrypted using 56-bit encryption. Data sent from the server to the client is not encrypted.

Client Compatible
Encrypts client/server communication at the maximum key strength supported by the client. Use this level when the terminal server is running in an environment containing mixed or legacy clients. This is the default encryption level.

High
Encrypts client/server communication using 128-bit encryption. Use this level when the clients accessing the terminal server also support 128-bit encryption. When encryption is set at this level, clients that do not support this level of encryption will not be able to connect.

FIPS Compliant
All client/server communication is encrypted and decrypted with the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) encryption algorithms. FIPS 140-1 (1994) and its successor, FIPS 140-2 (2001), describe U.S. government requirements for encryption.

The RDP-Tcp Properties dialog box, which is accessed from the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration snap-in, allows you to configure the encryption level.