Security News > 2022 > July > Windows 11 now blocks RDP brute-force attacks by default
Recent Windows 11 builds come with the Account Lockout Policy policy enabled by default which will automatically lock user accounts after 10 failed sign-in attempts for 10 minutes.
"Win11 builds now have a DEFAULT account lockout policy to mitigate RDP and other brute force password vectors," David Weston, Microsoft's VP for Enterprise and OS Security, tweeted Thursday.
The use of Windows Remote Desktop Services to breach enterprise networks is so prevalent among cybercriminals that the FBI said RDP is responsible for roughly 70-80% of all network breaches leading to ransomware attacks.
However it's not enabled by default, allowing attackers to brute force their way into Windows systems with exposed Remote Desktop Protocol services.
To put things in perspective, attacks targeting RDP services have seen a sharp increase since at least mid-late 2016, starting with the rise in popularity of dark web marketplaces that sell RDP access to compromised networks, per an FBI IC3 report from 2018.
One notable mention is UAS, the largest hacker marketplace for stolen RDP credentials at one point, which leaked login names and passwords for 1.3 million current and historically compromised Windows Remote Desktop servers.