The MQ Appliance network device must compare internal information system clocks at least every 24 hours with an authoritative time server.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-74995	MQMH-ND-001060	SV-89669r1_rule		Medium

Description
Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events. Sources outside of the configured acceptable allowance (drift) may be inaccurate. Additionally, unnecessary synchronization may have an adverse impact on system performance and may indicate malicious activity. Synchronizing internal information system clocks provides uniformity of time stamps for information systems with multiple system clocks and systems connected over a network.

Description

Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events. Sources outside of the configured acceptable allowance (drift) may be inaccurate. Additionally, unnecessary synchronization may have an adverse impact on system performance and may indicate malicious activity. Synchronizing internal information system clocks provides uniformity of time stamps for information systems with multiple system clocks and systems connected over a network.

STIG	Date
IBM MQ Appliance v9.0 NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide	2017-06-06

Details

Check Text ( C-74847r1_chk )
Log on to the MQ Appliance WebGUI as a privileged user. On the Manage Appliance tab, select Network >> Interface/NTP Service. Verify: - NTP server destinations are configured; - The NTP servers are located in different geographic regions; and - Status (at the top of the page) is "up". If any is not true, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-81611r1_fix)
Log on to the MQ Appliance WebGUI as a privileged user. Click on the Network icon (third from the top). Select "Interface/NTP Service". Click the "Add" button to add multiple NTP servers. Click "Enable administrative state". Click the "Apply" button. Add one or more additional NTP servers, at least one of which is from a different geographic region. The result should be: "Status:up" Click "Save configuration".

Fix Text (F-81611r1_fix)

Log on to the MQ Appliance WebGUI as a privileged user.

Click on the Network icon (third from the top).
Select "Interface/NTP Service".
Click the "Add" button to add multiple NTP servers.
Click "Enable administrative state".
Click the "Apply" button.

Add one or more additional NTP servers, at least one of which is from a different geographic region.

The result should be: "Status:up"

Click "Save configuration".