How do I tell Internet Explorer to trust a security certificate?Dave, I was hoping you could help on this really security alert that keeps on coming up every time I go on the Internet. The alert states the following: Information you exchange with this site cannot be viewed or changed by others. However, there is a problem with the site's security certificate. The security certificate was issued by a company you have chosen not to trust. View the certificate to determine whether you want to trust the certifying authority. The certificate is valid and the security certificate has a valid name matching the name of the page you are trying to view. I would be very grateful if you could help stop this security alert from appearing in future. Unfortunately, you didn't give me two critical snippets of information in your question: your operating system and what Web browser you're using, but I somehow suspect that it's Internet Explorer on Windows anyway, so let me answer for that configuration and see if helps you out... Certificates are supposed to prove that you're connecting to the site you think you're connecting to, something that's particularly important if you're about to share sensitive data with the site or download a program or system patch. I won't even talk about phishing and how that ups the ante of site verification (though you can read about it here: Paypal and eBay alerts: legit or phishing?) Since having a site certify itself doesn't make sense -- because the site could just as easily have a forged security certificate -- there are third party Certification Authorities that act as what security folk call 'trusted third parties'. It used to be that there were just two or three of these authorities, but now there are more, and what's happened in your situation is that you've somehow ended up indicating to your Web browser, Internet Explorer, that you don't trust the third party certification authority that a particular site is using. But don't panic. This can be fixed and pretty easily at that. Go into Internet Explorer then choose Tools -> Internet Options, then click on the Content tab. The middle of that window will show you different options regarding Certificates. Click on the middle button, labeled "Certificates..." Now you'll see something that's an interesting user interface gaffe on Microsoft's part because the tabs on this window don't fit in the window, so you need to click on the tiny right arrow by the rightmost tab. Once you can see it, click on "Untrusted Publishers". You'll end up with a window that looks like this:
You should see the publisher listed that's causing you such problems. On my screen, I have two certificates from Microsoft, published by VeriSign, as you can see. Just delete the entries here by clicking on each one to select it, then clicking "Remove". Quit the browser, restart, and everything should be good to go! Important Update: Microsoft has issued a notice explaining that there was an erroneous certificate issued by its certificate authority and that you should not, in fact, delete the certificate as I suggest above. Please go and read this tech note at the Microsoft site before you take any action: Erroneous VeriSign-Issued Digital Certificates Pose Spoofing Hazard.
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Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader. I'm a little suspicious as to why the browser is hitting something under SSL "up every time I go on the Internet." I can surf the web all day and never encounter an SSL page, let alone the same site. Did the original user happen to bookmark their default home page under SSL? I'd try Dave's suggestion, and also do a little checking on why your browser is visiting that site each session. Posted by: Stewart Vardaman at January 26, 2005 4:49 PMExcellent advice, Stewart. Thanks. Posted by: Dave Taylor at January 26, 2005 4:58 PMI'm having a similar problem, so I tried to go into Internet Options like you said...only to find that I don't even have an "Untrusted Publishers" tab (and yes I used the arrows to scroll all the way over)! Any suggestions? I'm using Win98SE w/ IE6... Posted by: Kristine at January 27, 2005 4:17 AMAnother place where you might find this information is in Tools -> Internet Options, then the button Publishers. On my version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (6.0.2900/SP2) I have three tabs on the resultant window: Trusted Root Certification Authorities, Trusted Publishers and Untrusted Publishers. Posted by: Dave Taylor at January 27, 2005 1:30 PMI been having this problem with my windows me I tried your method along with other methods to get rid of this problem but still have the message come up, I viewed the certificate and followed those instructions I removed untrusted publishers as you advised but still get the same thing:Information you exchange from this site cannot be viewed or changed by others. However, there is a problem with this sites security certificate. is there something else I can do? Posted by: laurie at September 9, 2005 1:20 PMRemoving these certificates will not fix the problem described above! Users should NOT remove the two certificates listed under Untrusted Publishers. These certificates were accidentally issued by a CA to someone claiming to be Microsoft. MORE INFO: Like Kristine I am on Windows98se / IE6. I too don't have an `Untrusted Publishers' tab. However, following Dave's suggestion of Tools -> Internet Options -> Publishers brings up a window on its' own that is headed `authenticode(tm) Securty Technology'. In that window there are NO tabs at all. Just two lines in a box that is headed `Trusted Publishers and Issuers of Credentials' - can anybody throw any light as to how I find/get rid of untrusted publishers? Posted by: kevin pearson at December 6, 2005 7:05 PMThis alert " Information you exchange with this site cannot be viewed , ect." will pop up on your internet explorer browser if your system clock is not set properly Posted by: Carm-Z at January 18, 2006 9:07 PMCarm-z and his incorrect time in the system clock tip did the job in my case. yes, the incorrect system time & date worked for me as well. thanks carm-z! Posted by: anewperson at December 8, 2006 4:59 PMDave ... I'm a little confused ... also I am in the transitional phase of searching for a newer computer ... in the meantime I'm using IE v 5.1.7 for Mac and running Mac OS 9.2.2 How do 'Security Certificates' get added to and /or installed onto ones browser? How do I verify that the certifcates currently listed are actually legitimate, it seems like there are a lot more certificates listed now than when I first installed IE? Do I WANT new certificates to be issued? Is it wise to 'reset to defaults' in the security certificates pane, and then set a password? Posted by: Ohm51 at December 17, 2006 10:09 AMI think it's irresponsible for Dave to keep this article still up on the web. It is clearly bad advice to remove those two certificates since they fix this problem: You're absolutely right, Chris. I have updated my article to encourage people to go and read that tech note from Microsoft. Thanks for the tip! Posted by: Dave Taylor at January 19, 2007 2:22 PMKudos on your site. Meanwhile, how do you get rid of these blasted certificate warnings? I get about 4 just accessing Ebay. This is a new development because it didn't happen a few days ago. I suspect an 'update'. Posted by: meditek at February 8, 2007 10:05 AM"Security Alert - The Security certificate has valid name matching the name of the page you are trying to view" Why do i get this message when I'm opening the MSN messenger? However, opening my hotmail email account is not a problem, I just can't use msn for chatting. Thanks for your help, question? what is this .asx means? mostly all the radio guide station on media player i cannot connect or play that particular sites. how do i setup the settings on my media player? can anyone help me on this? thanks Posted by: drainzer at March 7, 2007 12:33 AMI'm using Windows Vista Home Premium Edition. I'm getting the security certificate error for Hotmail. I can't check my mail. HELP! Posted by: Slsamuel at March 30, 2007 3:46 PMI am having the same problem as the person above - I can't log into yahoo.com to check my email!!! I'm also using Windows Vista (which I didn't install, it came with this new laptop). Posted by: Grace at May 26, 2007 4:47 PMChange your system clock to synch with windows.com (it's in the dropdown). That stopped this issue for me, and it's the only thing that did. No permissions alterations, or anything else I tried had any effect. Posted by: DUNSEL at May 31, 2007 3:45 PMONCE REAL WAY TO TELL INTERNET EXPLORER TO TRUST A SECURITY CERTIFICATE (If the site is one that you trust. Like an internal website).... I kept getting this problem while accessing our HP Printer via our intranet. To fix it, I did the following: add it to your trusted sites. Next, set a custom level of security for all trusted sites by choosing "Custom level..." then set "Display Mixed Content" to "Enable" in the "Miscellaneous" section. I am on Windows Vista and I cant seem to open my Hotmail account and my Yahoo mail account because this message always shows up about Certificate Errors: This organization's certificate has been revoked. Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server. Posted by: Cedes at July 17, 2007 9:56 PMI HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING!!!! AND STILL CAN NOT ACCESS PAY PAL WITHOUT THE "THIS CERTIFICATE HAS BEEN REVOKED" POPPING UP I WAS EVEN AND IDIOT AND DELETED THE MICROSOFT THINGS I APPARENTLY WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO DELETE HELP!! Posted by: LIZ at September 22, 2007 11:41 AMSo once you delete those to "untrusted" Microsoft certificates, how can you get them back? Posted by: John at October 1, 2007 9:10 PMBTW, what fixed my problem with the certificates was fixing the time and date on my computer. The date was somehow inadvertantly changed from 2007 to 2002 so the computer was seeing all of the certificated as expired. Posted by: John at October 1, 2007 9:14 PMYes, also same as above...look at you date and time...mine also read 2002 instead of 2007. This fixed the certificate problem. Thanks for everybody's help! Posted by: Miranda at October 15, 2007 11:11 AMsetting the clock right worked for me. i am using internet explorer 6............. Posted by: DEEPAK at October 26, 2007 6:56 AMI have the same problem. New computer, vista. Windows says that hotmail does not have avalid certificate. The date and time seems not to be the problem. Have looked at the certificate box, as you said, Dave...(this is a spanish version, but has the same features you describe). should i just wipe the whole thing and reinstall windows? Posted by: Paul Reynolds at October 30, 2007 5:03 AMOK, after trying everything here and everything I could find through Google...nothing works at my bank or ebay or pay pal. It is a bug in IE so what do we do. I'd like to kill IE but I'd have to kill my computer too...and I need that. SO the answer is apparently...use firefox? And bend over for Bill Gates? Posted by: Don at November 1, 2007 11:42 AMi am having trouble accesing to orkut.although I The date and time setting worked for me. Thanks Posted by: Sumit at December 10, 2007 11:44 AMYAAAAY! Thanks for the comments by readers! I, too, was getting a security certificate message that was problematic. Reset the date and time on my computer, and voila! security messages have vanished! Posted by: maggie at December 11, 2007 8:24 AMi am having problem with internet explorer Hi dave i am having problems accessing my hotmail account when i sign in it just comes up with certificate error: Navigation Blocked There is a problem with this websites security certificate it is just hotmail every thing else is ok. I tryed your suggestion about content tab but it will not let me remove them. It might be a problem with hotmail what do you think? Posted by: matt at December 23, 2007 2:38 PMHello All, I have a question about Webmail. When I users go to access the Webmail, it brings up a 'There is a problem with this website's security certificate.' My boss has asked me to remove that screen, so all our users see is the Webmail sign in screen only. Thanks. :-) Lena Posted by: Lena at January 11, 2008 12:41 PMyour imformation is very usefull for me thank u Posted by: behara at January 19, 2008 12:56 AMREAD THIS!! Try installing AVG anti-virus. Even the free version will fix it. If you don't want to do that another alternative is to use Firefox. Both of these worked for me. Hope it helps. Posted by: LK at February 18, 2008 9:22 PMDave, I was hoping you could help on this really security alert that keeps on coming up every time I go on the Internet. The alert states the following: so Mr. Dave any other possible solution for this I have any problem about my e-mail adress msn and gmail.Both of them identification always certificates error and navigation eas blocked Posted by: agustarman at March 14, 2008 11:32 AMHiiiiiiiiiii its great to solve the problem here thank you so much...... I tried all of the above...no joy... the only way I could do this was to go into the Internet Options, Advanced tab and untick the boxes check for server certificate revocation and the publisher one... unsure how secure ny computer now is but needed to access hotmail account! Posted by: tc at March 30, 2008 3:23 PMOMG, I kept getting those "Security Certificate Errors" when trying to access my bank and hotmail sites all it was, was the time on my clock which I changed back for some reason it had a futuristic date. Posted by: bleon at April 2, 2008 8:52 PMdispled the security certificate has revoked..
UNBELIEVABLE! The only thing I changed was the date (which for some strange reason it was set in the future) and the silly certificate issue dissapeared. Posted by: Dan at May 5, 2008 6:40 PMWas getting 'There is a problem with this website's security certificate' logging into hotmail. How the date changed, I don't know but changing it back solved my problem. Thanks. I looked for the answer to 10/07/07 from John about once you delete those two "untrusted" Microsoft certificates, how do you get them back, especially being Microsoft said not to delete them. I need an answer ASAP please. Thanks Posted by: Chris at June 20, 2008 6:44 AMI have a lot to say, but ...
I do have a comment, now that you mention it!
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