SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENSURING INTEGRITY OF AUDIO

Implemented preferably within a video camera, a cryptographic device is used to prevent audio from being fraudulently altered without detection. The cryptographic device performs a "time-bracketing" operation to preserve data integrity through implementation of a state value randomly generated after a first point of time. Time-bracketing is performed by appending the state value to an aggregate digest of at least one pair of video and audio data clips to produce an aggregate data set, and digitally signing the aggregate data set before the aggregate digest is transmitted to a centralized system for "time-stamping", resulting in a published composite digest. The aggregate data set supports that the data clips were captured after the first point of time while providing support that the data clip was captured before the second point of time.