This
article describes how to configure Windows to act as an authoritative time
server using NTP (Network Time Protocol).
Computer time synchronisation is highly
important in modern computer networks, precision and time synchronization is
critical in many applications, particularly time sensitive transactions. Just
imagine buying an airline seat only to be told at the airport that the ticket
was sold twice because it was purchased afterwards on a computer that had a
slower clock!
Thi article explains the importance of using an authenticated timing reference when using a NTP time server (Network Time Protocol)
NTP
(Network Time Protocol) synchronises networks to a single time source using
timestamps to represent the current time of the day, this is essential for time
sensitive transactions and many system applications such as email.
NTP is
therefore vulnerable to security threats, whether from a malicious hacker who
wants to alter the timestamp to commit fraud or a DDoS attack (Distributed
Denial of Service - normally caused by malicious malware that floods a server
with traffic) that blocks server access.