V-239604

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. 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 setting time periods for different types of systems (e.g., financial, legal, or mission-critical systems). Organizations should also consider endpoints that may not have regular access to the authoritative timeserver (e.g., mobile, teleworking, and tactical endpoints). This requirement is related to the comparison done every 24 hours in SRG-OS-000355 because a comparison must be done in order to determine the time difference.

Check Content

Run the following command to determine the current status of the "ntpd" service: 

# service ntp status

If the service is configured, the command should show a list of the ntp servers and the status of the synchronization. 

If nothing is returned, this is a finding.

If the service is configured, but does not show a status of "on", this is a finding.