Lock User Accounts after 'n' Failed Login Attempts By limiting the number of failed login attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute forcing, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account. Setting a lockout expiration of 15 minutes is an effective deterrent against brute forcing that also makes allowances for legitimate mistakes by users.

[Number_of_Attempts, Minutes]

To check if the password policy is configured to disable an account for 15 minutes after 3 unsuccessful login attempts, run the following command: sudo pwpolicy getpolicy | tr ' ' ' ' | grep 'maxFailedLoginAttempts|minutesUntilFailedLoginReset' If the result is not 'maxFailedLoginAttempts=3' and 'minutesUntilFailedLoginReset=15', and password policy is not controlled by a directory server, this is a finding.