Secret Server will use SSL to do all communication between the launcher and Secret Server. Secret Server also uses RSA 2048 / AES 256 to communicate with the launcher; so all communication is secured even if SSL is not turned on.
The password for RDP/mstsc is written using DPAPI using current user specific keys (as part of the Operating System).
More info on DPAPI -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_API
The Remote Desktop Launcher uses the version of Remote Desktop installed on the client machine which comes as part of the Operating System. It is recommended that you ensure clients have version 6.0 (or higher) installed. This will ensure that RC4 128 bit encryption is used for the Remote Desktop connection.
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Protocol
"
Version 6.0 was introduced with Windows Vista and incorporated support for Windows Presentation Foundation applications, Network Level Authentication, multi-monitor spanning and large desktop support, and support for TLS 1.0 connections. [5] Version 6.0 client is available for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2 (x86 and x64 editions) and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac OS X is also available with support for Intel and PowerPC Mac OS versions 10.4.9 and greater."
Article ID: 233, Created On: 1/10/2012, Modified: 1/10/2012