How might clock synchronization work with RSA SecurID tokens?
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My workplace uses these things to generate one-time passwords which only work within a short time period. I have always been curious about how the clock synchronisation between the authentication server and the token might work. I'm not sure whether there is any communication between the token and the outside world at all, but I would doubt it because they are small, light, and they must make these things to be as cheap as possible for lowest unit cost. So, maybe there isn't any synchronization at all? But then, wouldn't the clocks gradually drift apart, especially if the battery was running down, eventually resulting in a bricked token?
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Answer:
The authentication server keeps track of the clock drift in each token and adjusts its expected code calculations based on that. See http://www.rsa.com/products/securid/sb/AS51_SB_0607-lowres.pdf; search for "clock drift".
wim at Physics Visit the source
Other answers
There generally isn't any synchronisation at all. The specific RSA unit changes once per minute but allows the next 2 or 3 pass codes to be accepted by the server as well - so as long as the token is within a few minutes of correct time it will work. A quartz clock should lose less than a minute/year and the battery (or system upgrades) normally limit the life of these things to 3 years anyway.
Martin Beckett
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