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A method and apparatus for creating and/or using trustworthy timestamps and certifiable clocks using logs linked by cryptographic hashes. In one embodiment, the method comprises maintaining a first, chained-hash log; associating a first clock with the chained-hash log, and entangling the first log;

A method and apparatus for creating and/or using trustworthy timestamps and certifiable clocks using logs linked by cryptographic hashes. In one embodiment, the method comprises maintaining a first, chained-hash log; associating a first clock with the chained-hash log, and entangling the first log; with a second by adding a time-stamped synchronization entry to the chained-hash log, where the synchronization entry has a second time indication associated with the second log and a hash of one or more entries in the first log.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method, comprising: maintaining, by a device that logs event times and document hashes, a first event log that is associated with a first clock;entangling the first event log with a second event log maintained by another device;tracing the entangling of the first event log with the second event

1. A method, comprising: maintaining, by a device that logs event times and document hashes, a first event log that is associated with a first clock;entangling the first event log with a second event log maintained by another device;tracing the entangling of the first event log with the second event log; andannotating an entry in the first event log with a correction to a previously-issued timestamp in the entry based on results of tracing the entanglement, wherein an annotation of the entry in the first log is a new log entry in the first log that comprises a hash and a timestamp of the entry being annotated. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the annotated entry is added to the first log as a connotation to a corrected entry in the first event log and indicates the corrected entry's error and a corresponding correction. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein entangling the first event log with a second event log and tracing the entangling further comprises: adding a time-stamped synchronization entry to the first log, the time-stamped synchronization entry having a time indication from a second clock of the another device that is associated with the second event log; andtracing the entangling of the first event log back to the second clock, wherein the second clock is trustworthy. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: adding a time-stamped log entry from the first event log into the second event log, the time-stamped log entry containing a second time-stamped synchronization entry and a hash of the first event log. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a level of accuracy of the second clock based on an assessment of accuracy of the trustworthy clock; anddetermining reliability of timestamps in time-stamped log entries in the first event log based on observed accuracy of the trustworthy clock and a reputation of the another device that maintains the trustworthy clock. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the another device is a network time protocol (NTP) server. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the another device is a global positioning system (GPS) device. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second clock that is trustworthy has a known relationship to a trusted time standard. 9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising: maintaining, by a device that logs event times and document hashes, a first event log that is associated with a first clock;entangling the first event log with a second event log maintained by another device;tracing the entangling of the first event log with the second event log; andannotating an entry in the first event log with a correction to a previously-issued timestamp in the entry based on results of tracing the entanglement, wherein an annotation of the entry in the first log is a new log entry in the first log that comprises a hash and a timestamp of the entry being annotated. 10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the annotated entry is added to the first log as a connotation to a corrected entry in the first event log and indicates the corrected entry's error and a corresponding correction. 11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein entangling the first event log with a second event log and tracing the entangling further comprises: adding a time-stamped synchronization entry to the first log, the time-stamped synchronization entry having a time indication from a second clock of the another device that is associated with the second event log; andtracing the entangling of the first event log back to the second clock, wherein the second clock is trustworthy. 12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising: adding a time-stamped log entry from the first event log into the second event log, the time-stamped log entry containing a second time-stamped synchronization entry and a hash of the first event log. 13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising: determining a level of accuracy of the second clock based on an assessment of accuracy of the trustworthy clock; anddetermining reliability of timestamps in time-stamped log entries in the first event log based on observed accuracy of the trustworthy clock and a reputation of the another device that maintains the trustworthy clock. 14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the another device is a network time protocol (NTP) server. 15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the another device is a global positioning system (GPS) device. 16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the second clock that is trustworthy has a known relationship to a trusted time standard. 17. A system comprising: a memory to store a first event log with log entries that comprise event times and document hashes; anda processor to maintain the first event log that is associated with a first clock,entangle the first event log with a second event log maintained by another device,trace the entangling of the first event log with the second event log, andannotate an entry in the first event log with a correction to a previously-issued timestamp in the entry based on results of tracing the entanglement, wherein an annotation of the entry in the first log is a new log entry in the first log that comprises a hash and a timestamp of the entry being annotated.