+AU-08 Time Stamps

AU-08 Time Stamps

Control

  1. Use internal system clocks to generate time stamps for audit records; and
  2. Record time stamps for audit records that meet [Assignement: granularity of time measurement] and that use Coordinated Universal Time, have a fixed local time offset from Coordinated Universal Time, or that include the local time offset as part of the time stamp.

Discussion

Time stamps generated by the system include date and time. Time is commonly expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or local time with an offset from UTC. Granularity of time measurements refers to the degree of synchronization between system clocks and reference clocks (e.g., clocks synchronizing within hundreds of milliseconds or tens of milliseconds). Organizations may define different time granularities for different system components. Time service can be critical to other security capabilities such as access control and identification and authentication, depending on the nature of the mechanisms used to support those capabilities.

Assessment Objective

  1. internal system clocks are used to generate timestamps for audit records;
  2. timestamps are recorded for audit records that meet [Assignement: granularity of time measurement] and that use Coordinated Universal Time, have a fixed local time offset from Coordinated Universal Time, or include the local time offset as part of the timestamp.

Assessment Method

Examine

Audit and accountability policy system security plan privacy plan procedures addressing timestamp generation system design documentation system configuration settings and associated documentation system audit records other relevant documents or records

Interview

Organizational personnel with information security and privacy responsibilities system/network administrators system developers

1. Overview

Summary Standard

1.1 References

1.2 Identified Requirements

1.3 Related Regulations

2. Identified Requirements

Requirements
Source Requirement

3. Related Regulations

Regulations
Source Regulation

Linked Issues

  • NIST -

    EN: Publications of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, https://www.nist.gov/, from their electronic versions (OSCAL; SP 800-63-4 from its HTML version, https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/). Works of NIST employees are not subject to copyright protection in the United States (17 U.S.C. § 105); the OSCAL content is dedicated to the public domain worldwide (CC0 1.0); outside the United States NIST grants the right to reprint its technical series publications in all formats (NIST copyright statement). Republished courtesy of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; each document names its citation. Divided into sections and converted into the GRCA format, the wording unchanged. Only the versions published by NIST are authoritative.

    DE: Veröffentlichungen des National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, https://www.nist.gov/, aus ihren elektronischen Fassungen (OSCAL; SP 800-63-4 aus ihrer HTML-Fassung, https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/). Werke von NIST-Beschäftigten sind in den USA urheberrechtlich nicht geschützt (17 U.S.C. § 105); die OSCAL-Inhalte sind weltweit gemeinfrei gestellt (CC0 1.0); außerhalb der USA räumt das NIST das Recht ein, seine Technical-Series-Publikationen in allen Formaten neu zu veröffentlichen (Copyright-Hinweis des NIST). „Republished courtesy of the National Institute of Standards and Technology“; jedes Dokument nennt seine Zitierangabe. In Abschnitte aufgeteilt und in das GRCA-Format umgewandelt, der Wortlaut unverändert. Maßgeblich sind allein die vom NIST veröffentlichten Fassungen.