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Researchers Warn Computer Clocks Can Be Easily Scrambled Via NTP Flaws (networkworld.com)

Posted by timothy on from the when-was-that-again dept.

alphadogg writes: Researchers at Boston University said this week that they've found flaws in the Network Time Protocol (NTP), a 30-year-old Internet protocol whose security shortcomings could undermine encrypted communications and even jam up bitcoin transactions. The importance of NTP was highlighted in a 2012 incident in which two servers run by the U.S. Navy rolled back their clocks 12 years, deciding it was the year 2000. Computers that checked in with the Navy's servers and adjusted their clocks accordingly had a variety of problems with their phones systems, routers and authentication systems. There is at least one alternative out there, and reason to use it.

5 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Bitcoin! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Oh boy not Bitcoin! Save us!

  2. Re:Authenticated NTP? by halivar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Once an RFC is adopted by IETF (as the linked RFC is), it becomes a standard. Bro, do you even internet?

  3. Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    systemd automatically knows what time it is, but it'll only tell you in binary.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  4. Re:Eric Raymond rewrite by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't Eric Raymond in the middle of a major rewrite of the NTP software, with emphasis on security?

    I heard it was going to become part of systemd.

  5. Re:Eric Raymond rewrite by NotInHere · · Score: 3, Funny

    Time synchronisation is in systemd already:

    http://lists.freedesktop.org/a...

    And it uses SNTP, not NTP.