Overview

To ensure consistency, accuracy, and compliance with security standards, we provide guidelines for synchronizing your systems with our clock. Accurate timekeeping is crucial for data integrity, audit trails, incident response, and maintaining compliance with ISO 27001 and ISO 27017.

How to Synchronize Your System Clock with Ours

Our systems use the Amazon Time Sync Service, a reliable and accurate time source from AWS. Follow the steps below to configure your system for synchronization.

For Linux Systems (Amazon Linux, Ubuntu, RHEL, CentOS, etc.)

1. Ensure Chrony is installed (default on most distributions):

sudo yum install -y chrony  # For Amazon Linux, RHEL, CentOS
sudo apt install -y chrony  # For Ubuntu, Debian

2. Edit the Chrony configuration file (/etc/chrony.conf) and add:

server 169.254.169.123 prefer iburst

3. Restart the Chrony service to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart chronyd
sudo systemctl enable chronyd

4. Verify synchronization:

chronyc tracking

For Windows Systems

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Run the following command to set AWS as the time source:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"169.254.169.123",0x8 /syncfromflags:manual /update

3. Force synchronization immediately:

w32tm /resync

4. Verify the sync status:

w32tm /query /status

Monitoring & Maintenance

• Regularly check synchronization status to ensure accurate timekeeping.
• Set up alerts for time drift deviations beyond acceptable thresholds.
• Periodically review your configuration to ensure continued compliance.

By implementing these steps, you ensure accurate system records, effective security monitoring, and alignment with international security standards.