Time Synchronization Policy

The Time Synchronization Policy defines the mandatory requirements for ensuring consistent, accurate time across all organizational IT systems, applications, and devices, including servers, endpoints, network devices, and cloud infrastructure. This policy's central aim is to maintain precision in timekeeping, which is foundational for reliable system logging, secure communications, audit trail traceability, regulatory compliance, and forensic investigation capabilities. Inconsistent time can lead to uncorrelated logs, failed authentications, impeded incident response, and incomplete compliance reporting, making robust time management a critical security control. This policy applies to all infrastructure components (servers, workstations, network and firewall devices, IoT systems), virtual and cloud environments (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), and any platform participating in logging, authentication, or security event correlation. All personnel, including employees, contractors, and third-party providers, managing such systems must adhere to these requirements. Systems that generate or use timestamped records (logs, alerts, user activities, forensics) are considered within scope, and exceptions require formal review and approval. Key objectives include establishing a centralized time synchronization architecture using designated, secure NTP servers, ensuring all systems synchronize clocks at regular intervals, and maintaining strict clock drift tolerances. System configurations must support automated detection and correction of time discrepancies, with explicit thresholds for standard, security, and cryptographic systems, ranging from five-second to zero-drift margins. All clock drift anomalies must be logged, escalated through defined channels, and, if necessary, isolated for forensic integrity. Roles and responsibilities are thoroughly articulated: the CISO owns policy oversight and ensures regulatory alignment, network engineering maintains NTP environments and monitoring, and system owners enforce compliance at the platform level. The Security Operations Center (SOC) plays a continuous monitoring and escalation role for time-related incidents. Vendors and managed service providers are explicitly required to demonstrate ongoing adherence to synchronization standards and support audit requests regarding time settings. Enforcement is rigorous, non-compliant systems may be isolated or remediated, and unauthorized tampering with synchronization agents is treated as a policy violation subject to disciplinary or contractual penalties. Periodic audits validate time accuracy, NTP source use, and incident response procedures. Continuous policy review ensures adaptation to emerging threats, infrastructure changes, or incident findings related to time misalignment. This policy is directly mapped to a range of international standards, including specific controls and articles from ISO/IEC 27001:2022, 27002:2022, NIST SP 800-53, GDPR, NIS2, DORA, and COBIT 2019. Its interdependency with policies for logging, incident response, endpoint protection, and risk management further highlights its foundational role in a robust information security management system.