Detections
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- ID: DT121
- Created: 29th April 2025
- Updated: 30th April 2025
- Platform: Windows
- Contributor: The ITM Team
RDP Group Membership Changes
Monitor and alert when users are added to the local Remote Desktop Users
group on Windows systems. Unauthorized additions to this group provide remote logon privileges and may indicate preparatory insider activity.
Detection Methods
- Audit group membership changes using Windows Security Event ID 4732.
- Track additions to the
Remote Desktop Users
group (SID: S-1-5-32-555). - Correlate membership changes with user identity, prior privilege levels, and change management records.
Indicators
- Unauthorized or unexpected users added to the Remote Desktop Users group.
- Membership changes performed outside approved IT operations or helpdesk interventions.
- Additions correlated with accounts flagged for prior policy violations or behavioral risk indicators.
Sections
ID | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
PR026 | Remote Desktop (RDP) | The subject initiates configuration or usage of Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to enable remote control of an endpoint or server, typically for purposes not sanctioned by the organization. This activity may include enabling RDP settings through system configuration, altering firewall rules, adding users to RDP groups, or initiating browser-based remote access sessions. While RDP is commonly used for legitimate administrative and support purposes, its unauthorized configuration is a well-documented preparatory behavior preceding data exfiltration, sabotage, or persistent unauthorized access.
RDP can be enabled through local system settings, remote management tools, or even web-based services that proxy or tunnel RDP traffic through HTTPS. Subjects may configure RDP access for themselves, for a secondary device, or to facilitate third-party (external) involvement in insider threat activities. |
PR026.001 | Remote Desktop (RDP) Access on Windows Systems | The subject initiates configuration changes to enable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Remote Assistance on a Windows system, typically through the System Properties dialog, registry modifications, or local group policy. This behavior may indicate preparatory actions to grant unauthorized remote access to the endpoint, whether to an external actor, co-conspirator, or secondary account.
CharacteristicsSubject opens the Remote tab within the System Properties dialog (
May configure additional RDP-related settings such as:
Often accompanied by:
In some cases, used to stage access prior to file exfiltration, remote control handoff, or backdoor persistence.
Example ScenarioA subject accesses the Remote tab via SystemPropertiesRemote.exe and enables Remote Desktop, selecting the “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop” option. They add a personal email-based Microsoft account to the Remote Desktop Users group. No help desk ticket or change request is submitted. Over the following days, successful RDP logins are observed from an IP address outside of corporate VPN boundaries, correlating with a data transfer spike. |