Change your RPD port number and make your server more secure [1/2]

This tutorial will explain how using registry editor to change the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) port number on you Windows 2003 / XP / Vista .
This will be useful when you are behind a firewall or NAT and the default port 3389 is disabled.

Also, there are many scanning bots ran on hacked servers trying to brute-force the administrator password on other computers with Windows OS. As it takes a lot of resources the whole range of port to be scanned on every server, the bots are set to try only a short range to see whether particular service is running.

Changing the port will decrease the chance your server to become a target of brute-force attacks via Remote Desktop Protocol. Basically this will hide the server from automated scans looking for RPD.

To change the port you will need to start Windows Registry Editor.

Go to : Start -> Run... type 'regedit' and press OK

Expand the registry folders to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Control > TerminalServer > WinStations > RDP-Tcp

Then locate the following registry subkey :

PortNumber