Security and Synchronisation

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Security is often the most worried about aspect of running a computer network. Keeping unwanted users out whilst allowing freedom for users to access network applications is a full time job. Yet many network administrators fail to pay any heed to one of the most crucial aspects of keeping a network secure – time synchronisation.

Time synchronisation is not just important but it is vital in network security and yet it is staggering how many network administrators disregard it or fail to have their systems properly synchronised.

Ensuring the same and correct time (ideally UTC – Coordinated Universal Time) is on each network machine is essential as any time delays can be an open door for hackers to slip in undetected and what is worse if machines do get hacked are not running the same time it can be near impossible to detect, repair and get the network back up and running.

Yet time synchronisation is one of the simplest of tasks to employ, particularly as most operating systems have a version of the time protocol NTP (Network Time Protocol).

Finding an accurate time server can sometimes be problematic particularly if the network is synchronised across the internet as this can raise other security issues such as having an open port in the firewall and a lack of possible authentication by NTP to ensure the signal is trusted.

However, an easier method for time synchronisation, being both accurate and secure, is to use a dedicated NTP time server (also known as network time server). An NTP server will take a time signal direct from GPS or from the national time and frequency radio transmissions put out by organisations such as NIST or NPL.

By using a dedicated NTP server the network will become a lot securer and if the worst does happen and the system does fall victim to malicious users then having a synchronised network will ensure it is easily solvable.

What is the Best Source of UTC Time?

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UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the world’s global timescale and replaced the old time standard GMT (Greenwich Meantime) in the 1970’s.

Whilst GMT was based on the movement of the Sun, UTC is based on the time told by atomic clocks although it is kept inline with GMT by the addition of ‘Leap Seconds’ which compensates for the slowing of the Earth’s rotation allowing both UTC and GMT to run side by side (GMT is often mistakenly referred to as UTC – although as there is no actual difference it doesn’t really matter).

In computing, UTC allows computer networks all over the world to synchronise to the same time making possible time sensitive transactions from across the globe. Most computer networks used dedicated network time servers to synchronise to a UTC time source. These devices use the protocol NTP (Network Time Protocol) to distribute the time across the networks and continually checks to ensure there is no drift.

The only quandary in using a dedicated NTP time server is selecting where the time source comes from which will govern the type of NTP server you require. There are really three places that a source of UTC time can be easily located.

The first is the internet. In using an internet time source such as time.nist.gov or time.windows.com a dedicated NTP server is not necessarily required as most operating systems have a version of NTP already installed (in Windows just double click the clock icon to see the internet time options).

*NB it must be noted that Microsoft, Novell and others strongly advise against using internet time sources if security is an issue. Internet time sources can’t be authenticated by NTP and are outside the firewall which can lead to security threats.

The second method is to use a GPS NTP server; these devices use the GPS signal (most commonly used for satellite navigation) which is actually a time code generated by an atomic clock (from onboard the satellite). Whilst this signal is available anywhere on the globe, a GPS antenna does need a clear view of the sky which is the only drawback in using GPS.

Alternatively, many countries’ national physics laboratories such as NIST in the USA and NPL in the UK, transmit a time signal from their atomic clocks. These signals can be picked up with a radio referenced NTP server although these signals are finite and vulnerable to local interference and topography.

Common GPS Queries

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Is the GPS time signal the same as the GPS positioning signal?

Yes. The signals that are broadcast by GPS satellites contain time information and the position of the satellite it came from (and its velocity). The timing information is generated by an onboard caesium atomic clock. It is this information used by satellite navigation devices (sat navs) that enables global positioning. Sat Navs use these signals from multiple satellites to triangulate a position.

How accurate is GPS positioning?

Because the time signal generated by GPS comes from an atomic clock it is accurate to within 16 nanoseconds (16 billionths of a second). As light travels nearly 186 000 miles in a second this equates to around 16 feet (5+metres) which means a GPS positioning system is usually accurate to this much.

Is GPS time the same as UTC?

No. GPS time, like UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)is based on International Atomic Time (TAI) – the time told by atomic clocks. However as the GPS system was developed several decades ago it is now 14 seconds (and soon to be 15) behind UTC because it has missed out on the Leap Seconds added to UTC to calibrate for the Earth’s slowing rotation.

How can I use GPS as a source of UTC then?

Fortunately a GPS time server will convert GPS to the current UTC time, which as od 1 January 2009 will mean it has to add exactly 15 seconds.

GPS Time Server and its Accuracy from space

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The GPS network (Global Positioning System), is commonly known as a satellite navigation system. It however, actually relays a ultra-precise time signal from an onboard atomic clock.

It is this information that is received by satellite navigation devices that can then triangulate the position of the receiver by working out how long the signal has taken to arrive from various satellites.

These time signals, like all radio transmissions travel at the speed of light (which is close to 300,000km a second). It is therefore highly important that these devices are not just accurate to a second but to a millionth of a second otherwise the navigation system would be useless.

It is this timing information that can be utilized by a GPS time server as a base for network time. Although this timing information is not in a UTC format (Coordinated Universal Time), the World’s global timescale, it easily converted because of its origin from an atomic clock.

A GPS time server can receive the signal from a GPS aerial although this does need to have a good view of the sky as the satellites relay their transmissions via line-of-sight.
Using a dedicated GPS time server a computer network can be synchronised to within a few milliseconds of NTP (milli=1000th of a second) and provide security and authentication.

Following the increase use of GPS technology over the last few years, GPS time servers are now relatively inexpensive and are simple and straight forward systems to install.

Next Generation of Accurate Atomic Clocks Starts Ticking as NIST scientists unveil new strontium clock

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Those chronological pioneers at NIST have teamed up with the University of Colorado and have developed the world’s most accurate atomic clock to date. The strontium based clock is nearly twice as accurate as the current caesium clocks used to govern UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) as it loses just a second every 300 million years.

Strontium based atomic clocks are now being seen as the way forward in timekeeping as higher levels of accuracy are attainable that are just not possible with the caesium atom. Strontium clocks, like their predecessors work by harnessing the natural yet highly consistent vibration of atoms.

However, these new generations of clocks use laser beams and extremely low temperatures close to absolute zero to control the atoms and it is hoped it is a step forward to creating a perfectly precise clock.

This extreme accuracy may seem a step too far and unnecessary but the uses for such precision are many fold and when you consider the technologies that have been developed that are based on the first generation of atomic clocks such as GPS navigation, NTP server synchronisation and digital broadcasting a new world of exciting technology based on these new clocks could just be around the corner.

While currently the world’s global timescale, UTC, is based on the time told by a constellation of caesium clocks (and incidentally so is t he definition of a second as just over 9 billion caesium ticks), it is thought that when the Consultative Committee for Time and Frequency at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) next meets it will discuss whether to make these next generation of atomic clocks the new standard.

However, strontium clocks are not the only method of highly precise time. Last year a quantum clock, also developed at NIST managed accuracy of 1 second in 1 billion years. However, this type of clock can’t be directly monitored and requires a more complex scheme to monitor the time.

Keeping Accurate Time and The Importance of a Network Time Server

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A network time server can be one of the most crucial devices on a computer network as timestamps are vital for most computer applications from sending and email to debugging a network.

Tiny inaccuracies in a timestamp can cause havoc on a network, from emails arriving before they have technically been sent, to leaving an entire system vulnerable to security threats and even fraud.

However, a network time server is only as good as the time source that it synchronises to. Many network administrators opt to receive a timing code from the Internet, however, many Internet time sources are wholly inaccurate and often too far away from a client to provide any real accuracy.

Furthermore, Internet based time sources can’t be authenticated. Authentication is  a security measure used by NTP (Network Time Protocol which controls the network time server) to ensure the time server is exactly what it says it is).

To ensure accurate time is kept it is vital to select a time source that is both secure and accurate. There are two methods which can ensure a millisecond accuracy toUTC (coordinated universal time – a global timescale based on the time told by atomic clocks).

The first is to use a specialist national time and frequency transmission broadcast in several countries including the UK, USA, Germany, France and Japan. Unfortunately these broadcasts can’t be picked up everywhere but the second method is to use the timing signal broadcast by the GPS network which is available literally everywhere on the face of the planet.

A network time server will use this timing code and synchronise an entire network to it using NTP which is why they are often referred to as a NTP server or NTP time server. NTP continually adjusts the network’s clocks ensuring there is no drift.

Galileo and the GPS NTP Server

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Currently there is only one Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) the NAVSTAR GPS which has been open for civilian use since the late 1980’s.

Most commonly, the GPS system is thought to provide navigational information allowing drivers, sailors and pilots to pinpoint their position anywhere in the world.

In fact, the only information beamed from a GPS satellite is the time which is generated by the satellites internal atomic clock. This timing signal is so accurate that a GPS receiver can use the signal from three satellites and pinpoint the location to within a few metres by working out how long each precise signal took to arrive.

Currently a GPS NTP server can use this timing information to synchronise entire computer networks to providing accuracy to within a few milliseconds.

However, the European Union is currently working on Europe’s own Global Navigation Satellite System called Galileo, which will rival the GPS network by providing its own timing and positioning information.

However, Galileo is designed to be interoperable with GPS meaning that a current GPS NTP server will be able to receive both signals, although some software adjustments may have to be made.

This interoperability will provide increased accuracy and may make national time and frequency radio broadcasts obsolete as they will not be able to produce a comparable accuracy.

Furthermore, Russia, China and India are currently planning their own GNSS systems which may provide even more accuracy. GPS has already revolutionised the way the world works not only by allowing precise positioning but also enabling entire globe to synchronise to the same timescale using a GPS NTP server. It is expected that even more advances in technology will emerge once the next generation of GNSS begin their transmissions.

Choosing the Right Time Signal for Your Network

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Computer network synchronisation is essential in the modern world. Many of the world’s computer networks are all synchronised to the same global timescale UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

To govern synchronisation the protocol NTP (Network Time Protocol) is used in most cases as it is able to reliably synchronise a network to a few milliseconds off UTC time.

However, the accuracy of time synchronisation is solely dependent on the accuracy of whatever time reference is selected for NTP to distribute and here lies one of the fundamental errors made in synchronising computer networks.

Many network administrators rely on Internet time references as a source of UTC time, however, apart from the security risks they pose (being as they are on the wrong side of a network firewall) but also their accuracy can not be guaranteed and recent studies have found less than half of them providing any useful accuracies at all.

For a secure, accurate and reliable method of UTC there really are just two choices. Utilise the time signal from the GPS network or rely on the long wave transmissions broadcast by national physics laboratories such as NPL and NIST.

To select which method is best then the only factor to consider is the location of the NTP server that is to receive the time signal.

GPS is the most flexible in that the signal is available literally everywhere on the planet but the only downside to the signal is that a GPS antenna has to be situated on the roof as it needs a clear view of the sky. This may prove problematic if the time server is located in the lower floors of a sky scraper but on the whole most users of GPS time signals find that they are very reliable and incredibly accurate.

If GPS is impractical then the national time and frequencies provide an equally accurate and secure method of UTC time. These longwave signals are not broadcast by every country however, although the US WWVB signal broadcast by NIST in Colorado is available in most of North America including Canada.

There are various versions of this signal broadcast throughout Europe including the German DCF and the UK MSF which prove to be the most reliable and popular. These signals can often be picked up outside the nation’s borders too although it must be noted long wave transmissions are vulnerable to local interference and topography.

For complete peace of mind, dual system NTP servers that receive signals from both the GPS and national physics laboratories are available although they tend to be a little more expensive than single systems although utilising more than one time signal makes them doubly reliable.

Atomic Clocks Explained

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Is an Atomic Clock Radioactive?

An atomic clock keeps time better than any other clock. They even keep time better than the rotation of the Earth and the movement of the stars. Without the atomic clock, GPS navigation would be impossible, the Internet would not synchronise, and the position of the planets would not be known with enough accuracy for space probes and landers to be launched and monitored.

An atomic clock is not radioactive, it doesn’t rely on atomic decay. Rather, an atomic clock has an oscillating mass and a spring, just like ordinary clocks.

The big difference between a standard clock in your home and an atomic clock is that the oscillation in an atomic clock is between the nucleus of an atom and the surrounding electrons. This oscillation is not exactly a parallel to the balance wheel and hairspring of a clockwork watch, but the fact is that both use oscillations to keep track of passing time. The oscillation frequencies within the atom are determined by the mass of the nucleus and the gravity and electrostatic “spring” between the positive charge on the nucleus and the electron cloud surrounding it.

What Are The Types of Atomic Clock?

Today, though there are different types of atomic clock, the principle behind all of them remains the same. The major difference is associated with the element used and the means of detecting when the energy level changes. The various types of atomic clock include:

The Cesium atomic clock employs a beam of cesium atoms. The clock separates cesium atoms of different energy levels by magnetic field.

The Hydrogen atomic clock maintains hydrogen atoms at the required energy level in a container with walls of a special material so that the atoms don’t lose their higher energy state too quickly.

The Rubidium atomic clock, the simplest and most compact of all, use a glass cell of rubidium gas that changes its absorption of light at the optical rubidium frequency when the surrounding microwave frequency is just right.

The most accurate commercial atomic clock available today uses the cesium atom and the normal magnetic fields and detectors. In addition, the cesium atoms are stopped from zipping back and forth by laser beams, reducing small changes in frequency due to the Doppler effect.

When Was The Atomic Clock Invented? atomic clock

In 1945, Columbia University physics professor Isidor Rabi suggested that a clock could be made from a technique he developed in the 1930s called atomic beam magnetic resonance. By 1949, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST) announced the world’s first atomic clock using the ammonia molecule as the source of vibrations, and by 1952 it announced the first atomic clock using cesium atoms as the vibration source, NBS-1.

In 1955, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in England built the first cesium-beam atomic clock used as a calibration source. Over the next decade, more advanced forms of the atomic clocks were created. In 1967, the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures defined the SI second on the basis of vibrations of the cesium atom; the world’s time keeping system no longer had an astronomical basis at that point! NBS-4, the world’s most stable cesium atomic clock, was completed in 1968, and was used into the 1990s as part of the NPL time system.

In 1999, NPL-F1 began operation with an uncertainty of 1.7 parts in 10 to the 15th power, or accuracy to about one second in 20 million years, making it the most accurate atomic clock ever made (a distinction shared with a similar standard in Paris).

How Is Atomic Clock Time Measured?

The correct frequency for the particular cesium resonance is now defined by international agreement as 9,192,631,770 Hz so that when divided by this number the output is exactly 1 Hz, or 1 cycle per second.

The long-term accuracy achievable by modern cesium atomic clock (the most common type) is better than one second per one million years. The Hydrogen atomic clock shows a better short-term (one week) accuracy, approximately 10 times the accuracy of a cesium atomic clock. Therefore, the atomic clock has increased the accuracy of time measurement about one million times in comparison with the measurements carried out by means of astronomical techniques.

Synchonising to an Atomic Clock

The simplest way to synchonise to an atomic clock is to use a dedicated NTP server. These devices will receive either the GPS ataomic clock signal or radio waves from places like NIST or NPL.

Types of Atomic Clock Receivers

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MSF atomic clock receiver

The controlling radio signal for the National Physical Laboratory‘s atomic clock is transmitted on the MSF 60kHz signal via the transmitter at , CumbriaAnthorn, operated by British Telecom. This radio atomic clock time signal should have a range of some 1,500 km or 937.5 miles. All of the British Isles are of course within this radius.
The National Physical Laboratory’s role as keeper of the national time standards is to ensure that the UK time-scale agrees with Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) to the highest levels of accuracy and to make that time available across the UK. As an example, the MSF (MSF being the three-letter call sign to identify the source of the signal) radio broadcast provides the time signal for, electronic share trading, the clocks at most railway stations and for BT’s speaking clock.

DCF atomic clock receiver

The controlling radio signal for the German clock is transmitted via long wave from the DCF 77kHz transmitter at Mainflinger, near Dieburg, some 25 km south east of Frankfurt – the transmitter of German National Time Standards. It is similar in operation to the Cumbria transmitter, however there are two antennas (radio masts) so the radio atomic clock time signal can be maintained at all times.

Long wave is the preferred radio frequency for transmitting radio atomic clock time code binary signals as it performs most consistently in the stable lower part of the ionosphere. This is because the long wave signal carrying the time code to your timepiece travels in two ways; directly and indirectly. Between 700 km (437.5 miles) to 900 km (562.5 miles) of each transmitter the carrier wave can travel directly to the timepiece. The radio signal also reaches the timepiece via being bounced off the underside of the ionosphere. During the hours of daylight a part of the ionosphere called the “D layer” at an altitude of some 70 km (43.75 miles) is responsible for reflecting the long wave radio signal. During the hours of darkness when the sun’s radiation is not acting from outside the atmosphere, this layer rises to an altitude of some 90 km (56.25 miles) becoming the “E layer” in the process. Simple trigonometry will show that signals thus reflected will travel further.

A large part of the European Union area is covered by this transmitter facilitating reception for those who travel widely in Europe. The German clock is set on Central European Time – one hour ahead of U.K. time, following an inter-governmental decision, from the 22nd October, 1995, U.K. time will always be 1 hour less than European Time with both the U.K. and mainland Europe advancing and retarding clocks at the same “time”.

WVVB atomic clock receiver

A radio atomic clock system is available in North America set up and operated by NIST – the National Institute of Standards and Technology, located in Fort Collins, Colorado.

WWVB  has high transmitter power (50,000 watts), a very efficient antenna and an extremely low frequency (60,000 Hz). For comparison, a typical AM radio station broadcasts at a frequency of 1,000,000 Hz. The combination of high power and low frequency gives the radio waves from MSF a lot of bounce, and this single station can therefore cover the entire continental United States plus much of Canada and Central America.

The radio atomic clock time codes are sent from WWVB using one of the simplest systems possible, and at a very low data rate of one bit per second. The 60,000 Hz signal is always transmitted, but every second it is significantly reduced in power for a period of 0.2, 0.5 or 0.8 seconds:

• 0.2 seconds of reduced power means a binary zero • 0.5 seconds of reduced power is a binary one. • 0.8 seconds of reduced power is a separator.

The time code is sent in BCD (Binary Coded Decimal) and indicates minutes, hours, day of the year and year, along with information about daylight savings time and leap years. The time is transmitted using 53 bits and 7 separators, and therefore takes 60 seconds to transmit.

A clock or watch can contain an extremely small and relatively simple radio atomic clock antenna and receiver to decode the information in the signal and set the atomic clock time accurately. All that you have to do is set the time zone, and the atomic clock will display the correct time.