SC.9 Device Unlocking Credentials and Brute-Force Protection
Require a biometric, password or PIN before a physically present user reaches device services, protect that credential against brute force by throttling attempts or locking after a small number of failures, and enforce a minimum credential length for unlock-only credentials.
Source: UK Cyber Essentials, SC.9. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open UK Cyber Essentials in the compliance library.
The version of the requirements is not stamped here; check the question set your certification body uses.
These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.
system holds itEvidence a system already holds
- MDM or group policy showing lock settings and attempt limits · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)
- Screenshot or export of PIN and password length enforcement · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Record of vendor default used where the setting is not configurable · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
none for this control
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- laptops and phones with no lock credential
- unlimited unlock attempts
- unlock PIN below the minimum length
- device-unlock credential reused for account authentication without meeting the full password rules
Do this for your whole sheet
Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.
Build my evidence sheetSC.8 Process for Compromised Passwords · SCOPE.1 Scope Definition