The Brazilian daylight savings time ends next Sunday, at 0h, and everyone knows it is necessary to put the clocks back by one hour. However, not keeping the time up-to-date in the corporate systems makes it more difficult to track and identify possible security failures. Several commercial websites use the exact time to generate information and, if the clocks are out of sync, they could stop working, not establish a connection and not record the data.

According to the security analyst of RNP, Júlio Conceição, the organizations must pay attention to the NTP server, for it is the one that ensures the accuracy of the time”. “The NTP keeps reference of the time and sends to the devices the exact universal time, according to the configuration of the systems synchronized to it, and prevents them from being early or late”, he commented.

Also according to the analyst, keeping the clocks in sync with the daylight savings time keeps the records up-to-date and, if cybercrimes occur, it is easier to find out who committed them. “When someone uses a computer or a smartphone connected to a corporate network, the information are registered every minute. With the NTP tool up-to-date, it is possible to track the users who logged in to the systems”, he adds. “And also, without the time being updated, criminals could steal corporate IDs and passwords, clone credit cards and have access to privileged data”, he states.

To prevent the occurrence of cybercrimes, RNP’s Service Center for Security Incidents (CAIS) recommends that the institutions keep their clocks always synchronized, carry out a reliable update of the service and configure the servers to as to not allow the making of consultations through the monlist command, from the old version of the NTP.