Cryptography schemes are complicated to understand and implement. A lot of things can go wrong. But when it comes to web encryption, a surprising number errors actually stem from a straightforward and seemingly basic mechanism: timekeeping. Synced clocks in operating systems may make digital timekeeping look easy, but it takes a lot of work behind the scenes, and doesn't always solve problems online.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices