A Synopsis Of What Time Stamps Are
I know that time and again you have heard of this word or even seen it somewhere on the internet and you probably never knew what it is and why it’s even being talked about right? Well, that is about to change because that is exactly what we will talk about today in this article.
- When watching a movie or listening to the audio, you always pause more times than not when you want to do something else and then come back and continue from that exact position. Can you imagine a life where the pause button was not available, and you either had to sit through a whole movie before you could move or keep on searching for the last scene you watched from the minute it was to the second and other times to the millisecond you left it at? That would daunt and stress you seriously.
- You might wonder why I came up with that scenario and it’s only because to some extent time stamps serve the same purpose that a pause button serves the difference is that when you pause it’s automatic that the video or audio player marks the last scenes and stays on it until you come back and unpause it whereas we insert timestamps so you don’t forget them.
- So time stamping, in a nutshell, is when we record different timings of different events and occasions to serve as a reminder of when and what time they happened.
- Most times the time-stamping many people are aware of is the one is in relation to audio and video files. We use time stamping in filming to create time codes for different scenes and when one wants to mark specific important scenes and speakers on the audio of the video that they would want to come back and look at. Today, though, we will look at the different ways in which we use timestamps in our day to day lives, from the lesser important instances to the most important instances.
Ways In Which Stamping Can Be Experienced.
- Normally when we note and record a specific date and time of an event, we refer it as being time-stamped.
- When a photographer takes photos, normally the photos come out with a timestamp on which the camera captures date and year the photo.
- Computers always record the date time and year that you changed a document, and it keeps on recording it as it continues being edited and saved.
- When you post on social media, the date and year you posted the photo or video are always automatically recorded.
- In an organization, there are bio-metric machines that log the time one gets into the office and when they live, they are also collecting time stamps of arrival and departure time.
We refer to all these different instances to a timestamp because they are specific to the time in which they happened.
We usually create timestamps to help with keeping records online, on when a piece of information has been created, deleted and or exchanged, for example in things like emails and messages.
You might wonder how important the recording of different activities is, depending on how much you cherish memories then you wouldn’t really vex on whether there are timestamps available or and to other people, it is important to keep track of when, where, how and when things happen in their lives.
A good example to relate with that happens in our day to lives is that, when you get contracted to do a project or you even get used for a certain job, that contract usually acts as recording to show when you start the project, how long you should work on the project and when you are to have it finished working on the project. That is also time stamping and in this case, it’s a timestamp that would ensure that you carry through a project as expected and also paid for in the long run. Knowing when and for how long that project was due for completion is the most essential part and is a form of a timestamp.
It’s good to note that most times things like contracts and NDAs always deal with timestamps which if not signed might cause there being a misunderstanding one party being vilified for not noting that. One needs to prove that the signing really happened and when exactly, and whether the signature is valid. Timestamps that rely on system clocks are not enough, since it’s easy to alter the date and time locally on a machine. Plus, there are a variety of tools online that will allow you to change the changed, created and last accessed date of a document or PDF. So, how do we know if we can trust the timestamp?
As we have seen, it very easy to alter a timestamp and this might lead to some legal implications. We will further check out how to know whether a timestamp is trustworthy or whether tampered with. A trusted timestamp only means that one can prove with absolute certainty that the specific time stamps on a document are the original one and they have changed nothing on them.
We generate trusted time stamps in the presence of a neutral third party and we usually do this with the help of secure FIPS-compliant hardware to ensure that they are unmanipulated by a local user.
The reason I mention that their third party must be neutral is that you might find a third party who is more inclined on one side of the agreement, which only means they ate not credible and might lie about the timestamps. RFC 3161 outlines the requirements a third party must meet to operate as a Time-stamping Authority (TSA).
Now that we know how important time stamps can be and the benefits we can get from them, we will look at the different transactions that time stamps would really come in handy for.
It’s important to note that Trusted Timestamps add extra security to electronic signatures, digital signatures, and code.
Scenarios Where Time Stamps Are Important
Electronically Signing Documents.
- A lot of companies and organizations are more inclined to using electronic signatures more than the normally documented signatures that we have had in existence for a long time. This reduced the amount of paperwork that one has to deal with. The legally binding value of a wet ink signature to these electronic signatures is very clear, and that is why electronic signatures have to satisfy the law, including compliance and audit-ability requirements. It is always good for the recipients to take into consideration important factors like when a document was electronically-signed, also verify that a document was unaltered after the date specified by the stamp time. By using time-stamping, organizations can protect their intellectual property and use the timestamps as strong legal auditable evidence.
Digitally Signing Documents
- It is very important to have timestamps when signing any documents digitally. This is because timestamps are important for ensuring Long-Term Validation of a signature and also adding non-repudiation or confidence around when the signature was actually applied.
- Do not forget that during a digital signature verification, a content integrity check is included. As much as time stamps offer that benefit of ensuring that a signature has not been changed since the time it was applied, it is not as important as it is with electronic signatures.
- So what exactly does long-term validation mean, and why is it important?
- This only means that with LTV one can ascertain when it was applied, regardless of the status of the certificate at that specific time. Depending on the program you used to apply the signature, you may need to include a trusted timestamp with your signature to achieve LTV. Trusted timestamps support these scenarios because they are applied using independently verified and the auditable date and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) sources. This means they are not subject to tampering like a local system clock is, so you know with certainty when a signature was applied.
Digitally Signing Code
- As noted, most digital signatures need LTV’s in order for them to be as viable as possible regardless of the position the documents are at a specific time. For digitally signing codes, for the same to be achieved, one needs to add trusted timestamps which will ensure that everything has been recorded somewhere for future use.
- As you have seen, timestamps are important in this day and age that we leave in because they offer a couple of benefits. Timestamps will always be there, and they will always be important in our lives. If you never thought of how important timestamps are in your life, then I’m sure you can now mention a couple of instances where they have come in handy for you.
