Thanks for the tip on WebClient!
After looking into the WebClient service (i.e. WebDAV), here are the two workarounds that worked for us (see below). We wanted to avoid disabling the service outright.
Workaround #1
Block WebDAV/WebClient Traffic to your local SMB/file server from each client PC.
Assumes you don't have HTTP/s services running on your local SMB/file server.
#PowerShell
$SMBServerIPs = @('192.168.111.111','1111:1111:1111:0000:0000:0567:5673:1111')
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block Outbound WebDAV (WebClient) Traffic to SMB File Server" `
-Group "!!Troubleshooting (IT Dept)" `
-Direction Outbound `
-Protocol TCP `
-RemotePort 80,443 `
-Action Block `
-RemoteAddress $SMBServerIPs
Workaround #2
Disable WebDAV/WebClient Traffic for Websites (that might be) running Sharepoint or Office Web Server.
Potential issues with MS365 services(???).
Set HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters\AcceptOfficeAndTahoeServers to 0 (Default is 1) (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/iis/publish/using-webdav/using-the-webdav-redirector)
Hope this helps someone else.
D