Adding a leap second is more dangerous for the Internet than you might expect

Jan07

by Sindy Cator on January 7, 2015 at 8:57 pm

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) announced today that it’s going to be adding a second to the clock on June 30, 2015. While leap seconds sound entirely harmless, it’s far more dangerous for the Internet than you might expect. Why bother adding a second at all, then? There’s a number of reasons one can be added; everything from earthquakes changing the Earth’s rotation or simple adjustments to time to account for Earth’s naturally slowing rotation. The latter is why it’s being added this time around. The US actually wants to get rid of leap seconds because they cause disruption…