CMMC and Time

Time is a funny thing. You can't touch it. You usually can't see it. But it affects everything we do, every second of the day.

The same is true in a CMMC environment. For a digital system, a reliable source of time is one of the foundations for keeping everything in sync. Some people read that and say, "Of course. That's obvious."

If it's so obvious, then why do we keep walking into new customer environments and finding multiple sources of time? Is it unawareness? Lack of understanding? Implementation laziness? Probably some combination of all three.

Why Does Time Matter in CMMC?

Because AU.L2-3.3.7 calls it out for a reason. Time is how we correlate log data across the environment. When something bad happens in a CUI system, we do not have time to manually sort through mismatched timestamps from different devices, servers, and tools.

Bad time means bad correlation. Bad correlation means slower response. Slower response means more damage.

It's a lot like getting stroke-reversal medication to a patient. The more time you waste, the more damage is done.

Good Time Is Not a Convenience

That is why synchronized time matters. Not because it looks nice in a policy. Because when you need to reconstruct an incident, prove what happened, or contain an attacker, time matters.

In CMMC, good time is not a convenience. It's evidence. It's correlation. It's response. It's accountability.

Time is a funny thing. Until you need it to be exact.

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BomberJacket Networks is a CyberAB authorized C3PAO. If you are preparing for a CMMC assessment and want a seasoned partner who has seen what mismatched time does to an audit trail, get in touch.