NIST SP 800-171
Control 3.3.7
Authoritative Time Source
CMMC-RP Certified Team
24+ Years Experience
2,500+ Clients Served
Official Requirement
Provide a system capability that compares and synchronizes internal system clocks with an authoritative source to generate time stamps for audit records.
What This Means in Plain English
All your systems must have their clocks synchronized to the same reliable time source (like a government NTP server). Without synchronized clocks, you cannot accurately correlate events across systems during an investigation.
How Petronella Implements This Control
Petronella Technology Group implements this control through:
- Windows domain controllers configured as authoritative NTP servers syncing to time.nist.gov
- All domain-joined systems synchronizing time from domain controllers via Windows Time Service
- FortiGate firewalls and Cisco Meraki devices configured to sync with the same NTP sources
- Linux servers using chrony/ntpd synchronized to organizational NTP servers
- Arctic Wolf SIEM validating timestamp consistency across log sources
Assessment Guidance
Assessors will verify NTP configuration on domain controllers, check that all systems are synchronized to the authoritative time source, test time consistency across sample systems, and verify that network devices use the same NTP servers.
Common Implementation Gaps
- No centralized NTP configuration for the organization
- Systems using different time sources leading to timestamp discrepancies
- Network devices not synchronized with the domain time source
- NTP not configured on standalone or Linux systems
- Time drift not monitored or alerting on desynchronization
Cross-Framework Mapping
| Framework | Mapped Controls |
|---|---|
| NIST SP 800-53 | AU-8, AU-8(1) |
| PCI DSS | Req 10.4 - Synchronize all critical system clocks |
Need Help Implementing 3.3.7?
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