SSL Errors on normally trusted sites?

Post Reply New Topic

All day today I've been getting SSL errors (WARNING: The site's security certificate is not trusted!) for sites that I go to all the time, including gmail, seznam (my local email provider), and Facebook. Sometimes it works fine, but most of the time it's giving me this warning and since I don't know why, I'm afraid to continue. I have to get a lot of work done and I need my email, so I'm not sure what I should do.

Is there a problem with the sites? Has anyone else had this problem today? Or is there something nefarious on my end? Should I be backing up and preparing for a system format or something? Or is it safe to ignore the warnings and proceed to the site as usual?

Thanks in advance!

I would start by checking your computer's date and time, if they are not set correctly it can cause SSL certificates to not work. You could also be missing root certificates the browser usually has... checking that depends on your browser.

I first started getting the errors on Chrome, but I tried the same sites on Firefox and had the same problem. They're working at the moment, but it's been on and off all day. My date and time are set fine, GMT+1.

EDIT: And they're not working again. :/

An out of sync date and time is not the only thing that can cause this error Run a virus check and make sure your DNS settings are in the clear. Also check for the presence of a hosts file and if present, check the contents. A virus may have written a new hosts file and / or changed the DNS settings for your Internet connection. If your computer is tricked into visiting a computer for which a domain is not officially registered, such errors can occur.

Can you give me some step-by-step directions for this? I don't know what most of that means.

Nor I - I have very little technical knowledge, but I suggest you use some type of anti virus program, I use this one http://www.malwarebytes.org/ I downloaded it, performed a full scan (which tokk 3 hours) and got rid of a virus

Thanks, that sounds worth a try. Downloading now.

Well I tried a full scan, it didn't find anything. Other ideas?

What version of Windows are you using?

I fear I am afflicted with Windows Vista. I've had this computer for three years, though, and I've never had a problem before. I'm very careful about what sites I use, and I block javascript from all untrusted sources. I suppose it's possible I could have downloaded a virus inadvertently as part of another file, but I don't know from where.

For chrome there are a few things you could check, goto the preferences then select 'Under the Hood' where it says HTTPS/SSL make sure 'Check for server certificate revocation', 'Use SSL 3.0' and 'Use TLS 1.0' are all checked. Also check under 'Manager Certificates', in the authorities tab you should see quite a few certificates listed. Facebook's certificate is signed by DigiCert Inc and Gmail's certificate is signed by Thawte. I have two different certificates for Thawte... 'Thwate Consulting cc' and 'thawte, Inc'. If those certificates are there and you still have the problem then I would guess some sort of virus.

It is kind of peculiar that you say it happens in both Firefox and Chrome... though I'm not a Windows user and really don't know how Windows manages SSL certificates. What happens if you try Facebook from *gasp* Internet Explorer? (Maybe its okay to use it just this once to figure out the problem...)

All the options in Chrome are right, and the certificates are there. How can I check to make sure my clock isn't out of sync (and how do I fix it if it is)? The time looks right, but maybe it's slightly off? The virus scan didn't find anything... And it's happening again today.

Then the clock thing probably isn't it. For a bad clock to cause certificate complaints for properly run sites requires your clock to be wrong by years.

Chrome should be providing information on *why* it think's the site isn't trusted. I forget where exactly though. If you find that it may provide hints.

Ah yes when you go to a site with https in chrome you can click on the lock icon in the url bar to see more information. A few seconds, minutes or hours shouldn't cause an SSL error but if the date is wrong it is certainly possible that you would get an error. AngelKnight makes a good point though, click on the lock and see what chrome says about the certificate when you have errors. If you get the red screen in chrome click 'Help Me Understand' and read what it says.