RDP Connection Virus

Q: Is it possible to catch a virus from an RDP connection to a host?

A: This is an interesting question. When I first received it, my initial thought was No, since RDP is really just sending screen updates to your machine. However, RDP now has very rich functionality with multiple channels, including integration with clipboard, device, and drive access. This means that if some malware were running on a service that you use RDP to connect to, there's a chance the virus could infect your local data. Therefore, you should only use RDP (or any other protocol that has access to your resources) to connect to services you trust. In addition, you should ensure that you always have up-to-date malware protection.