You have a computer named Computer1 that runs Windows 11. A user named User1 plans to use Remote Desktop to connect to Computer1. You need to ensure that the device of User1 is authenticated before…

Reputation-based protection is a Microsoft Defender SmartScreen feature that helps protect against malicious apps, files, and websites, not client authentication for RDP.

Network Level Authentication (NLA) requires the client to authenticate at the network level before a full Remote Desktop session is established. This pre-authentication process enhances security by preventing unauthenticated clients from consuming server resources and potentially exploiting vulnerabilities on the sign-in screen itself.

Network Discovery allows a computer to see other devices on the network and for other devices to see it, but it does not enforce pre-authentication for RDP connections.

The Remote Desktop Configuration service manages RDP settings, but simply configuring it without enabling NLA will not force pre-authentication before the sign-in page.