Daylight Saving Time (DST) Changes in 2007

The US Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed by the US Congress July, 2005, extended Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the US by approximately four weeks. As a result, beginning in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier on March 11, 2007, and end one week later on November 4, 2007. Some other countries (such as Canada) have also changed their daylight saving time dates to coincide with these changes.

Many computers, software products and other equipment include local system clock. These clocks are typically configured to automatically adjust to DST. However, with this recent policy change and in the countries affected these local system clocks may not transition to DST correctly and will therefore be incorrect for this total period of four weeks. In most cases this will require a patch or update to be applied to the piece of equipment or software in question. The following paragraphs describe the implications of the change in DST with regard to nCipher’s products and outline any remedial action that is required.

nCipher netHSM, nShield, payShield, nFast, nForce, miniHSM and nToken Products

These products do not require any modification or update in order to operate correctly as a result of changes to DST.

However, these products are used in conjunction with client or host operating systems and the system clock of these operating systems is referenced as a time source in creating certain log files. Where an operating system has been configured to track local time, customers are advised to ensure that their operating systems are updated with revised information concerning the start and end of daylight saving time in order to ensure the accuracy of these log files.

nCipher Time Stamp Server (formally known as the DSE200), Time Source Master Clock and Classified Document Security Server Products

Time Stamp Server (TSS) and Classified Document Security Server (CDSS)

The TSS and CDSS products use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in their operation and do not require any modification or update in order to operate correctly as a result of changes to DST.

However these products use either the Windows 2000 or 2003 operating system internally. The operating system of these products may be configured to track local time and therefore may incorrectly transition to DST and result in incorrect references in some log files. The default setting for the TSS and CDSS when shipped is "GMT", but if customers have configured their TSS or CDSS to use a time zone that is affected by the changes to the effective start/end dates to DST, then they are advised to ensure that the operating system is updated with revised information concerning the start and end of daylight saving time.

Time Source Master Clock (TSMC)

The TSMC product uses UTC in its operation and does not require any modification or update in order to operate correctly as a result of changes to DST.

However this product uses the Linux Red Hat 8 operating system which may be configured to track local time.  The default setting for the TSMC when shipped is "UTC". If customers have configured their TSMC to use a time zone that is affected by the changes to the effective start/end dates to DST, they are advised to revert the time zone settings to the default UTC or update the operating system appropriately.

nCipher keyAuthority Products

nCipher’s KeyAuthority products do not require any modification or update in order to operate correctly as a result of changes to DST.

However, these products are used in conjunction with client or host operating systems and the system clock of these operating systems is referenced as a time source in creating certain log files. Where an operating system has been configured to track local time, customers are advised to ensure that their operating systems are updated with revised information concerning the start and end of daylight saving time in order to ensure the accuracy of these log files.

nCipher KeepSecure Products

Information on these products is not available at this time and will be updated as soon as possible.

For further information or clarification, please contact: sales@ncipher.com