computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

, the term remote desktop refers to a

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

- or

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

feature that allows a

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tech ...

desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphi ...

to be run remotely off of one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

or a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

), while being displayed on a separate client device. Remote desktop applications have varying features. Some allow attaching to an existing user's session and "remote controlling", either displaying the remote control session or blanking the screen. Taking over a desktop remotely is a form of

remote administration Remote administration refers to any method of controlling a computer from a remote location. Software that allows remote administration is becoming increasingly common and is often used when it is difficult or impractical to be physically near a ...

Overview

Remote access can also be explained as the remote control of a computer by using another device connected via the internet or another network. This is widely used by many computer manufacturers and large businesses help desks for technical troubleshooting of their customer's problems. Remote desktop software captures the mouse and keyboard inputs from the local computer (client) and sends them to the remote computer (server). The remote computer in turn sends the display commands to the local computer. When applications with many graphics including video or 3D models need to be controlled remotely, a remote workstation software that sends the pixels rather than the display commands must be used to provide a smooth, like-local experience. Remote desktop sharing is accomplished through a common client/server model. The client, or VNC viewer, is installed on a local computer and then connects via a network to a server component, which is installed on the remote computer. In a typical VNC session, all keystrokes and mouse clicks are registered as if the client were actually performing tasks on the end-user machine. Remote desktops also have a major advantage for security development, companies are able to permit software engineers who may be dispersed geographically to operate and develop from a computer which can be held within the companies office or cloud environment. The target computer in a remote desktop scenario is still able to access all of its core functions. Many of these core functions, including the main

clipboard A clipboard is a thin, rigid board with a clip at the top for holding paper in place. A clipboard is typically used to support paper with one hand while writing on it with the other, especially when other writing surfaces are not available. The ...

, can be shared between the target computer and remote desktop client.

Uses

A main use of remote desktop software is remote administration and remote implementation. This need arises when software buyers are far away from their software vendor. Most remote access software can be used for "

headless computer A headless computer is a computer system or device that has been configured to operate without a monitor (the missing "head"), keyboard, and mouse. A headless system is typically controlled over a network connection, although some headless system ...

s": instead of each computer having its own monitor, keyboard, and mouse, or using a

KVM switch A KVM switch (with KVM being an abbreviation for "keyboard, video, and mouse") is a hardware device that allows a user to control multiple computers from one or more sets of keyboards, video monitors, and mice. Name Switches to connect ...

, one computer can have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and remote control software, and control many headless computers. The duplicate desktop mode is useful for user support and education. Remote control software combined with telephone communication can be nearly as helpful for novice computer-users as if the support staff were actually there. Remote desktop software can be used to access a remote computer: a physical personal computer to which a user does not have physical access, but that can be accessed or interacted with. Unlike servers, remote computers are mainly used for peer to peer connections, where one device is unattended. A remote computer connection is generally only possible if both devices have a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

connection. Since the advent of

cloud computing Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over m ...

remote desktop software can be housed on USB hardware devices, allowing users to connect the device to any PC connected to their network or the Internet and recreate their desktop via a connection to the cloud. This model avoids one problem with remote desktop software, which requires the local computer to be switched on at the time when the user wishes to access it remotely. (It is possible with a router with C2S VPN support, and Wake on LAN equipment, to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection with the router over the Internet if not connected to the

LAN Lan or LAN may also refer to: Science and technology * Local asymptotic normality, a fundamental property of regular models in statistics * Longitude of the ascending node, one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in sp ...

, switch on a computer connected to the router, then connect to it.) Remote desktop products are available in three models: hosted service, software, and appliance. Tech support scammers use Remote Desktop software to connect to their victim's computer and will often

Syskey The SAM Lock Tool, better known as Syskey (the name of its executable file), is a discontinued component of Windows NT that encrypts the Security Account Manager (SAM) database using a 128-bit RC4 encryption key. First introduced in the Q1434 ...

the computer if the victim does not cooperate.

Protocols

Remote desktop

protocols Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technology ...

include the following: *

Apple Remote Desktop Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) is a Macintosh application produced by Apple Inc., first released on March 14, 2002, that replaced a similar product called ''Apple Network Assistant''. Aimed at computer administrators responsible for large numbers of ...

Protocol (ARD) Original protocol for

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

machines. *

Appliance Link Protocol The Sun Ray was a stateless thin client computer (and associated software) aimed at corporate environments, originally introduced by Sun Microsystems in September 1999 and discontinued by Oracle Corporation in 2014. It featured a smart card read ...

(ALP) a

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...

-specific protocol featuring audio (play and record), remote printing, remote

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply ( interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broa ...

, accelerated video *

HP Remote Graphics Software HP ZCentral Remote Boost, formerly known as HP Remote Graphics Software or HP RGS is a client-server remote desktop software developed by HP Inc. and initially launched in 2003. HP RGS enables remote access to high-performance workstations (or vi ...

(RGS) a

proprietary protocol In telecommunications, a proprietary protocol is a communications protocol owned by a single organization or individual. Intellectual property rights and enforcement Ownership by a single organization gives the owner the ability to place restricti ...

Independent Computing Architecture Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) is a proprietary protocol for an application server system, designed by Citrix Systems. The protocol lays down a specification for passing data between server and clients, but is not bound to any one platf ...

(ICA) a

Citrix Systems Citrix Systems, Inc. is an American multinational cloud computing and virtualization technology company that provides server, application and desktop virtualization, networking, software as a service (SaaS), and cloud computing technologies. ...

NX technology NX technology, commonly known as ''NX'' or NoMachine, is a proprietary cross-platform software application for remote access, desktop sharing, virtual desktop (on Linux only) and file transfer between computers. It is developed by the Luxembou ...

(NX) a

used by

VMware VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture. VMware's desktop software ru ...

(licensed from

Teradici Teradici Corporation was a privately held software company founded in 2004, which was acquired by HP Inc. in October 2021. Teradici initially developed a protocol (PCoIP) for compressing and decompressing images and sound when remotely accessin ...

) *

Remote Desktop Protocol Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client software for this purpose, while ...

(RDP) a

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

-specific protocol featuring audio and remote printing * Remote Frame Buffer Protocol (RFB) A framebuffer level cross-platform protocol that VNC is based on. *

SPICE A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

(Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments) – remote-display system built for virtual environments by

Qumranet Qumranet, Inc. was an enterprise software company offering a desktop virtualization platform based on hosted desktops in Kernel-based Virtual Machines (KVM) on servers, linked with their SPICE protocol. The company was also the creator, maintai ...

, now Red Hat *

Splashtop Splashtop is a family of remote-desktop software and remote support software, developed by Splashtop Inc. Splashtop enables users to remotely access or remotely support computers from desktop and mobile devices. Splashtop enables remote comput ...

a high performance remote desktop protocol developed by Splashtop, fully optimized for hardware (H.264) including Intel / AMD chipsets, NVIDIA / ATI GPU & APU, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and NVIDIA Tegra. By optimizing for different profiles of media codecs, Splashtop can deliver high frame rates with low latency, and also low power consumption. *

Xpra xpra, abbreviated from X Persistent Remote Applications, is a set of software utilities that run X clients, typically on a remote host, and direct their display to the local machine without the X clients closing or losing any state in case the ne ...

a protocol originally developed for forwarding X11 application seamlessly with audio, video, remote printing, etc. - extended to support

and

servers *

X Window System The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting ...

(X11) a well-established cross-platform protocol mainly used for displaying local applications; X11 is network-transparent * Wake-on-LAN a standard protocol for remotely waking up computers that are in low-power mode (turned off, but still have access to a power source).

Malicious variants

A (, sometimes called ) is a type of

malware Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, de ...

that controls a system through a remote network connection. While

desktop sharing Desktop sharing is a common name for technologies and products that allow remote access and remote collaboration on a person's computer desktop through a graphical terminal emulator. The most common two scenarios for desktop sharing are: * Remo ...

and

have many legal uses, "RAT" connotes criminal or malicious activity. A RAT is typically installed without the victim's knowledge, often as payload of a

Trojan horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

, and will try to hide its operation from the victim and from

computer security software Computer security software or cybersecurity software is any computer program designed to influence information security. This is often taken in the context of defending computer systems or data, yet can incorporate programs designed specifically ...

and other anti-virus software.

Notable examples

* PoisonIvy * Sub Seven * Beast Trojan * Bifrost * Blackshades *

DarkComet DarkComet is a remote access trojan (RAT) developed by Jean-Pierre Lesueur (known as DarkCoderSc), an independent programmer and computer security coder from France. Although the RAT was developed back in 2008, it began to proliferate at the sta ...

Back Orifice Back Orifice (often shortened to BO) is a computer program designed for remote system administration. It enables a user to control a computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system from a remote location.Richtel, Matt.Hacker Group Say ...

Back Orifice 2000 Back Orifice 2000 (often shortened to BO2k) is a computer program designed for remote system administration. It enables a user to control a computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system from a remote location. The name is a pun on Mic ...

*Imminent Monitor * Havex

References