Information
Sleep and screensaver modes are low power modes that reduce electrical consumption while the system is not in use.
Rationale:
Prompting for a password when waking from sleep or screensaver mode mitigates the threat of an unauthorized person gaining access to a system in the user's absence.
Impact:
Without a screenlock in place anyone with physical access to the computer would be logged in and able to use the active users session.
NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.
Solution
Perform the following enable a password for unlock after a screen saver begins:
Open System Preferences
Select Security & Privacy
Select General
Set Require password after or screensaver begins with a time of less than or equal 5 minutes (immediately or 5 seconds is recommended)
Note: The command line check in previous versions of the Benchmark does not work as expected here. The use of a profile is recommended for both implementation and auditing on a 10.13 system.
Issue
https://blog.kolide.com/screensaver-security-on-macos-10-13-is-broken-a385726e2ae2
Profile to control screensaver
https://github.com/rtrouton/profiles/blob/master/SetDefaultScreensaver/SetDefaultScreensaver.mobileconfig
Additional Information:
This only protects the system when the screen saver is running.