Time: NTP servers use an authentication key

Information

Using NTP ensures network events are synchronized across devices for troubleshooting and malicious activity analyses. You should consider building a NTP environment with dedicated NTP server with a feed sourced from a Stratum-1 capable clock. Under no circumstance should an TiMOS/SR-OS device be used as the primary clock. It is recommended that all network devices be set to the same time to determine event timelines. This will save value time when compared to correlating device logs across your infrastructure.

TiMOS/SR-OS supports NTP messages with DES and MD5 authentication signatures to ensure that updates are not received from unauthorized source.

Solution

Run the following command on the device to configure an authentication key for NTP servers: configure system time ntp authentication-key 1 key <hash> hash2 type <des|message-digest>

See Also

https://infoproducts.alcatel-lucent.com/aces/cgi-bin/dbaccessfilename.cgi/9305050101_V1_SR-OS Security Best Practices v2.0.pdf

Item Details

Category: AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

References: 800-53|AU-8

Plugin: Alcatel

Control ID: d7d43c90c5b6d2587eb3019dae226f2e629a1271b08c20bf9661167df44822ce