If you, for whatever reason, have not updated Mozilla Firefox recently and are still using and older version you may have come across the following error message: this connection is untrusted. This error message will prevent you from having access to specific websites. So if you continue to use the same version of Firefox you will need to disable it or you will not be able to access the websites that give you that error.
We will try to tell you everything that you need to know error message and cover all possible angles. Of course, this will also include telling you exactly what you need to do in order to disable it. This article is specifically for people who have experienced this problem. If you are using the most up-to-date version of the Mozilla Firefox, or a different Internet web browser together, such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, etc. we are afraid this article will be of no use to you. But if you are currently using Firefox and you have just gotten this error message then read on for more information on what it is and how to deal with it.
What Is “this connection is untrusted”?
Before we go into the specifics of trying to get rid of this problem it might be a good idea for us to talk a little bit more about it what it is and how it might affect you.
The first thing that you will need to know about this error message is that it only affects users that are trying to visit secure websites. Of course, only when using Firefox as we said. How would you be able to recognize a secure website and distinguish it from any other kind? It is very likely that many of the websites that you often visit would be secure. Having said that, it would be quite impossible for us to give you a comprehensive list of all available secure websites. There is a very simple way to identify them, though. Well you will need to do in order to know if you are using a secure website is to do the following: highlight what appears on your browser field, if the web address begins with https then that means that the website is secured. That is what is that letter S stands for. So, at least in theory you should only get “this connection is untrusted” if you are attempting to visit a secure website. Sometimes, you may be getting this error because the website that you are using or trying to access it’s protected. This only happens if you use windows and he has something to do with the safety filter that Microsoft places for families. Mostly this would affect website such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube. If you get the error when visiting any of those websites then you should check out imitation from Microsoft about how you would go about turning off the family settings, unless of course, you already know how to do this.
So, if the problem is not related to safety or any family settings so settings that you need to turn off, then you should read on.
“We invest heavily on Firefox on the desktop. We have a user base we want to keep happy.” – Mitchell Baker
Okay, as you have probably already worked out the problem that causes this error message and not related to the way secure website work. Why would this be a problem? Well, this is to do with precisely what makes those websites secure. All of those websites (i.e., the ones beginning with https) are encrypted, which is precisely what makes them secure. What this actually means is that your computer needs to communicate with the website and, in order to do this, the website itself will need to show some ID, as it were, to Firefox. If this goes wrong then you will get the error message and not have access to the contents that should be freely available. This is purely a safety measure. So, how does a secure web side identify itself to Firefox? The way a website identifies itself is not obviously by showing a passport, a credit card, or a drivers license because as a nonhuman it does not possess any of those. All joking aside, there is an actual document that those websites would produce to identify themselves and that would be what is known as a certificate.
Once a secure website has produced a certificate, it is entirely up to Firefox to check it out and determine whether it can trust the website. If it decides he can, then you will have access to it no problem and will not even know what has going on behind the scenes. If, however, Firefox is not satisfied with the certificate that has been produced and decides that he cannot trust the website, then you will get the error message we are talking about in this article.
Firefox will not actually stop you from visiting the website if you really want to. If you notice the error message will give you some information, which we do realize tends to be very general and not very helpful but, at least now you know what causes the message. The error message will give you several options. You can click on the “get me out of here!” button if you decide to follow Firefox is advice and leave that website. There is also the option of getting more technical information, this is normally called “technical details”, but in less you are very technically minded and know a lot about computers in my not really be of much use to you to select this. Finally, at the very last option, which might make it easy to ignore there is an option for you to proceed and still visit the website. This last option is usually called “I understand the risks.” If you click on that last option you should be able to visit the website without any problems. You might just get the same message next time you visit it.
It is, of course, up to you whether you want to get out of the website or proceed.
How Do You Go About Disabling This Error Message?
You may have already worked out what the best solution would be for you. This would depend on the actual website that you are visiting but in this section will explore your options in a little bit more detail so you can at least make an informed decision.
As we said in the previous section, your first option would be to trust what Firefox is telling you and simply click on “get me out of here!”. You do not even need to do that, you could just ignore the error message (as in not read it or click on anything) and simply type in a different web address and go to a different website together.
If you want to know more then click on “technical details”. This will give you more information on the specific error. As we said the error means that there is something wrong with the certificate but if you would like to know specifically what is wrong with it then clicking on “technical details” is the only way to find out.
- Basically, the problem could be that the certificates not yet valid in which case you should see the date he will not be valid until. Another common problem is too old and he has already expired. If that is the case then you will see the date in which he expired.
- Another possible problem is that Firefox does not recognize whoever is issuing the certificate in which case it will state that the “issuer of the certificate is unknown.” This can happen when there is some kind of setting stop in the browser from accessing the website such as the Microsoft family setting that we discussed early on in the article.
- If none of those are the problem, there could be a few more other reasons. The first of those other reasons would be that the web browser does not accept the certificate because it considers it to be self-signed. Usually this happens when you are trying to access an intranet and not a public site. If that is indeed the case, you can just ignore it and access the site anyway.
- Another possible problem is that the certificate is only valid for a specific site name, which usually means that there is nothing wrong with the website as a whole but the specific parts of it that you are trying to have access to does not fit the name on the certificate. So you could just bypass the message we have shown you or try to go to the main website and not a specific part of it.
- The final possible reason cousin this is that the way in which certificates are saved have become corrupted. You will have to find that folder and delete it before restarting the Firefox web browser.
The first of those other reasons would be that the web browser does not accept the certificate because it considers it to be self-signed. Usually, this happens when you are trying to access an intranet and not a public site. If that is indeed the case, you can just ignore it and access the site anyway. Another possible problem is that the certificate is only valid for a specific site name, which usually means that there is nothing wrong with the website as a whole but the specific parts of it that you are trying to have access to does not fit the name on the certificate. So you could just bypass the message we have shown you or try to go to the main website and not a specific part of it. The final possible reason cousin this is that The way in which certificates are saved have become corrupted. Casey will have to find that folder and delete it before restarting the Firefox web browser.
The safest thing would be to check the technical details and then making a call based on them on whether you want to access the website or just visit a separate one. We hope thing for Maisch and in this article has helped you and enabled you to do this confidently.
If you have any feedback or would like to share your experience with this error message, Please leave us a message in the comments section below.
