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I'm more familiar with Linux tools to stop brute force attacks, so I'm having trouble finding suitable tools for Windows. I'm running a Windows Server 2008 R2 with Terminal Server, and I'd like to block an IP after repeated attempts to login via RDP. Any hints?

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Do you really need to handle this on your Windows server? Have you considered doing rate-limiting on your edge device (firewall/router)? – Zoredache Feb 2 '11 at 9:18
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The Windows box is a VPS run by a hosting company, so I have no access to the network devices. – onik Feb 2 '11 at 9:34
You could setup a Task Schedule event on failed logins to fire a PS script; the PS Svript would have to count the number of times an IP tried then block it with a Firewall rule. I don't have such a script but it'd be possible to create. – Chris S♦ Nov 29 '11 at 20:55
@Chris S: That's more-or-less what my ts_block script does, except that it runs as an event log "sink" and receives a callback each time new events are logged. As such, it runs more-or-less in realtime. – Evan Anderson Nov 29 '11 at 20:56

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to stop rdp login attempts, as already told, you need control of your firewall to isolate a particular ip. You can do some settings in Administrative tools -> Terminal services manager but can do nothing to stop one ip in this way. Maybe you've to consider a batch script to listen rdp port and control logon failures, so if there were a tot attempts (you choose the number...) by the same ip, then no other attempt for a known span of time could be. I'm not sure if it's possible, but could be a way...

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Ok, so it's as I thought. I have to study the Event Viewer to see if I can export the ip addresses to a file for batch processing. For the time being have to grep them from manually generated .csv dumps – onik Feb 8 '11 at 9:56
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Change the port RDP responds on. – JohnThePro Apr 23 '12 at 20:05
up vote 16 down vote

I've recently committed a modified version of my SSH brute force blocker program for Windows to a github repository. This new version, ts_block, blocks brute force Terminal Services logon attempts on Windows Server 2003, 2008, and 2008 R2. Have a look-- I think it'll do what you want.

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Awesome little utility. Thanks! – muhan Jul 11 '12 at 9:59
I use ts_block page here and it's amazing! My windows server (2008 R2) used to slow down under numerous brute force attacks but not anymore! TS_BLOCK Is written in vbscript - and can/should be installed as a windows service - but don't use the MSI version just edit the .vbs code and install yourself with the nssm util. You don't need the registry entries cos the .vbs code has the defaults hardcoded.<p> I've edited the code and it blocks EVERY failed login immediately - as being my own webserver there should be NO failed login attempts. So the script – user128333 Jul 14 '12 at 22:37
This is pretty sweet, Evan. I've got half a mind to re-implement it in C# so you could run it as a native windows service rather than hacking around with srvany and the like. If I ever do, I'll throw it up on Github or something as well. – Ryan Bolger Jul 15 '12 at 5:32
@RyanBolger: I have a soft spot for VBScript and interpreted languages in general. I find that using "Non-Sucking Service Manager" makes for a fairly painless experience running VBScript programs as services. – Evan Anderson Jul 15 '12 at 22:17
ts_block is amazing its exactly what I was looking for "Thank You Evan Anderson" When I placed my first Terminal virtual server live directly on the web within one day I had over 10,000 failed logins. When I have time I might modify it and add permanent blocking based on number of previous blocks. eg: IP gets banned 4 times in one day. (Unless it was created already) – Nathan Mar 13 at 20:19
up vote 1 down vote

There are a few other solutions also if you want to have a GUI based solution instead and create different sets of rules for different events really. The easiest one would be RDPGuard ( http://www.rdpguard.com ) but in a corporate enivornment you'd probalably want more reporting such as from where the attack came (country, origin) and what username was used so you can quickly decide if it's one of your own users accidentally blocking themselves out or trying to login from where you know they are not.

Personally I like Syspeace ( http://www.syspeace.com ) that does all those thing for us but I'd thought I'd mention tnhem both anyway

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up vote 0 down vote

Are you trying to prevent break-ins, or cluttered logs? If you're trying to prevent break-ins, Windows has a built-in way to block attempts at logging in. There is an Account Lockout Threshold Group Policy setting in Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Account Policy -> Account Lockout Policy.

Attackers will use common user names like Administrator, and they will certainly lock those out. You'd need a separate account for actual administration, which is probably advisable anyhow.

Automatically blocking at the firewall level will require some scripted log reading with automatic updating of firewall rules. You should be able to add rules based on IP address this way. This is basically what iptables does in a Linux system.

It may be a bit obvious, but have you also considered running Remote Desktop Services on a non-standard port? This has been very effective for me at thwarting break-ins.

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Blocking repeated connection attempts at the firewall is good practice, but assuming that brute force attacks aren't going to happen "behind the firewall" isn't a very good assumption. A host-based brute for block is a reasonably good idea, to my mind. Using account lockout is definitely a good idea, but I also like the idea of squelching the brute force attempts to keep logs cleaner, too. – Evan Anderson Nov 29 '11 at 21:09
Im already running on a nonstd port, and my bigger concern is actually having my server taken effectively offline due to the large number of login attempts. – boomhauer Jul 13 '12 at 5:39
One option is to disable access to Remote Desktop via the Firewall completely, but have a service running on the server that reconfigures the firewall to allow RDP traffic through, this service is password protected and maybe only allows access from a "trusted" IP source (such as a mobile phone's IP range or your office). It introduces hassle, but works. – Dai Jul 15 '12 at 2:35

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