Back to glossary

Time stamp protocol

The Time-Stamp Protocol, or TSP is a cryptographic protocol for certifying timestamps using X.509 certificates and public key infrastructure. The timestamp is the signer's assertion that a piece of electronic data existed at or before a particular time. The protocol is defined in RFC 3161. One application of the protocol is to show that a digital signature was issued before a point in time, for example before the corresponding certificate was revoked.