V-239600

Discussion

Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events. Sources outside the configured acceptable allowance (drift) may be inaccurate. Synchronizing internal information system clocks provides uniformity of time stamps for information systems with multiple system clocks and systems connected over a network. Organizations should consider endpoints that may not have regular access to the authoritative timeserver (e.g., mobile, teleworking, and tactical endpoints).

Check Content

A remote NTP server should be configured for time synchronization. To verify one is configured, open the following files:

# cat /etc/ntp.conf | grep server | grep -v '^#' 
# cat /etc/ntp.conf | grep peer | grep -v '^#' 
# cat /etc/ntp.conf | grep multicastclient | grep -v '^#' 

Confirm the servers and peers or multicastclient (as applicable) are local or an authoritative U.S. DoD source.

If a non-local/non-authoritative time-server is used, this is a finding.