A website, as we know it, is a collection of web pages that are identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server such as google.com, amazon.com, etc. When talking about a website, its domain name is one important thing to take note of. To simply state it, a domain name is the address of a web page. It is the string of letters and numbers that gives a place for a certain web page to display on the internet. Along with all these, you, as a visitor, must know how security certificate works and what it ultimately means.
A website security certificate is part of the HTTPS protocol, which ensures and encrypts data going back and forth between a website and visitor. A Certification Authority(CA) issues the security certificate. It basically verifies the identity of the owner of a website. It is the act of ensuring the identity of website owners who ultimately holds accountability for the privacy and security of all the users and visitors of the particular website.
That being said, you will see the There is a problem with this website’s security certificate error in instances where the particular website either has the security certificate ran out of date, is invalid, corrupted, etc. Without diverting much, we’ll see how we can deal with the error There is a problem with this website’s security certificate.
How to Fix the Error There is a problem with this website’s security certificate
1. The solution from the owner’s end
- The owner/organization of a particular website with an invalid security certificate can purchase a new certificate. They may also renew the current one(if expired). This can be done through a Certification Authority.
- Or, the owner/organization can install a Microsoft Enterprise certification authority in the Active Directory forest. Then, the organization can use this certification authority to generate a certificate for each Web server.
2. The solution from the visitor’s end
- To counter the issue, you have to install the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) self-signed certificate on the client computer. To do so, open the browser and go to the particular website.
- Click Continue to this website. Please note that doing so forces your browser to continue to the web page, regardless of the invalid security certificate. Be aware that this exposes us to any potential risks containing in the domain/website.
- You will now see a red address bar. There, click on the Certificate Error button
- You will now see the information window. From there, click View Certificates and then click Install Certificate to install it
- You will see a warning message now. Proceed with it by clicking Yes and the self-signed certificate will be installed on the client computer.
Note: For the Windows Vista version users of OS, you are to run your browser as an administrator to install the self-signed certificate. To do so, right-click on the browser icon and then select the Run as Administrator option.
Summing up our guide we can solely deduct that the issue persists with the webmaster. However, there is still the workaround as mentioned above in the guide. In contrast, the error pops up if the security certificate of the website is out of date, invalid, or corrupt. This basically means that the owner holds the responsibility to purchase or renew the security certificate. Also, it is not all recommended to visit a website with an invalid security certificate unless you know it’s legit.