METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VALIDATING TIMESTAMPS

Improved techniques for validating timestamps used in a client-server environment are disclosed. A client can associate client-provided timestamps with events that occur at the client. The client can then send event information as well as the timestamps to a server. Preferably, the event information and timestamps are sent in a batch pertaining to a plurality of events that have occurred at the client. The server, which has greater time accuracy, can then validate the client-provided timestamps. The server can also modify the client-provided timestamps so as to improve accuracy of the timestamps. Once modified, the timestamps can pertain to a range (e.g., window) of time during which the associated events can be known to have reliably occurred. In one embodiment, the client-server environment is a distributed file security system in which the events and event information pertain to audit files. The distributed file security system provides efficient and reliable techniques to ensure accuracy of client-provided timestamps.