2.4.4 Ensure Login Window Displays as Name and Password Is Enabled

Information

The login window prompts a user for his/her credentials, verifies their authorization level, and then allows or denies the user access to the system.

Prompting the user to enter both their username and password makes it twice as hard for unauthorized users to gain access to the system since they must discover two attributes.

Solution

Run the following command to enable the login window to display name and password:

% /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow SHOWFULLNAME -bool true

Note: The GUI will not display the updated setting until the current user(s) logs out.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/17465