If you do be aware of upcoming problems!
I received the text below in an Email and
decided that you should read it.
Mike.
If you use Google Chrome as your web browser, in the next few weeks you’re going to find
that a lot of websites stop working for you.
Instead of seeing the site you want, you’ll see a message telling you that there’s a problem
with the site’s security certificate.
These certificates are used by websites for two reasons: they allow your browser to encrypt
the data that is flowing between your computer and the web server (the things you enter on
a form, for example), and they allow your browser to confirm that the web server belongs to
the people it’s supposed to.
When a website operator wants to run a secure site, they first have to buy a certificate from
a well-known provider.
All browsers have a list of these providers, and can use encryption technology to verify
whether a certificate has come from one of those providers.
The system has worked well, but now Google have decided to stop recognising certificates
issued by security company Symantec. This doesn’t just affect Symantec though, it affects
all companies that issue certificates based on Symantec’s so-called root certificate.
More seriously, it affects all websites that use a certificate issued by one of these companies,
and means you’ll see the security warning when you visit.
This doesn’t mean that the site is insecure, just that Google has decided to stop trusting the
certificate.
The reason for this is due to the way that Symantec have issued invalid certificates, potentially
giving hackers access to a certificate for the Google.com domain in one case.
But just because Symantec have not been very careful with their certificates, a lot of legitimate
website operators are going to suffer.
Unless those website operators manage to get hold of replacement certificates soon, users will
not be able to access their sites in Chrome.
So, if you use Chrome and you come across a message telling you that there’s a problem with
a site’s certificate, try visiting the site in Firefox or Edge until the problem gets sorted by the
website operators.
I received the text below in an Email and
decided that you should read it.
Mike.
If you use Google Chrome as your web browser, in the next few weeks you’re going to find
that a lot of websites stop working for you.
Instead of seeing the site you want, you’ll see a message telling you that there’s a problem
with the site’s security certificate.
These certificates are used by websites for two reasons: they allow your browser to encrypt
the data that is flowing between your computer and the web server (the things you enter on
a form, for example), and they allow your browser to confirm that the web server belongs to
the people it’s supposed to.
When a website operator wants to run a secure site, they first have to buy a certificate from
a well-known provider.
All browsers have a list of these providers, and can use encryption technology to verify
whether a certificate has come from one of those providers.
The system has worked well, but now Google have decided to stop recognising certificates
issued by security company Symantec. This doesn’t just affect Symantec though, it affects
all companies that issue certificates based on Symantec’s so-called root certificate.
More seriously, it affects all websites that use a certificate issued by one of these companies,
and means you’ll see the security warning when you visit.
This doesn’t mean that the site is insecure, just that Google has decided to stop trusting the
certificate.
The reason for this is due to the way that Symantec have issued invalid certificates, potentially
giving hackers access to a certificate for the Google.com domain in one case.
But just because Symantec have not been very careful with their certificates, a lot of legitimate
website operators are going to suffer.
Unless those website operators manage to get hold of replacement certificates soon, users will
not be able to access their sites in Chrome.
So, if you use Chrome and you come across a message telling you that there’s a problem with
a site’s certificate, try visiting the site in Firefox or Edge until the problem gets sorted by the
website operators.
