Introduction to SSL Certificate Errors
Online communication between two parties or systems requires some form of protection to safeguard users’ privacy. That is where the SSL certificate comes in.
SSL stands for standard socket layer, which is put in place to secure communication between two parties. This form of security protects any data that is transmitted online between the browser and the webserver.
With cybercrime on the rise, websites need to protest their users by ensuring that encryptions are used while transmitting sensitive information such as personal or financial data.
An updated version of SSL is called TLS, which stands for transport layer security. The old version of SSL is no longer in use, and many website owners now use TLS to make their websites more secure. However, it is still referred to as SSL because it’s a popular term. In this post, we will show you the various SSL error types and how to bypass them.
A note to SSL
SSL- Secure Socket Layer is a standard security protocol that helps to connect between the server where the application is hosted and the client that is trying to connect securely.
SSL keeps the information secure by encrypting them. The information includes the username, password, debit or credit card details etc. This information needs to be secured as they travel over the internet. If otherwise, the information is not protected with SSL, this private information can be compromised. Whereas, if we use an SSL certificate, the information is encrypted and the server is trusted.
How does the SSL certificate look like?
When you open a browser and navigate to google.com or yahoo.com, you can see, the bo adjacent to the URL box is showing a lock symbol. It indicates that the server, you are trying to connect is having an SSL certificate.
How does the SSL certificate work?
What is the Cause of an SSL Connection Error Warning?
When a user browses an HTTPS protocol website, the web browser will verify the SSL certificate. Once it verifies this information, the browser will start the connection process.
There are instances where the browser fails to validate the SSL certificate. When this happens, the browser will warn the user that the connection is not secure using different error messages.
The type of SSL connection error message that the user will receive depends on the type of browser he or she uses. For those who are using the Google Chrome browser, the error message that they will receive will look like this “Your Connection Is Not Private,” Microsoft Edge will display “This site is not secure” as the error message, and the Mozilla Firefox browser will display –“Your Connection Is Not Secure,”
The connection is untrusted or the site’s security certificate is not trusted
If you are trying to access a website that starts with HTTPS but the SSL certificate of the website is expired or the certificate is not trusted, you may get this error.
- Error code in Google chrome- Your connection is not private.
- Error code in Mozilla Firefox- Your connection is not secure.
- Error code in IE/Edge- There is a problem with this website’s security certificate.
How to Bypass SSL Certificate Errors
Since each browser displays a different SSL error message, you need to ensure that you use the right method of bypassing SSL error or else it won’t work. Before bypassing an SSL error, you must ensure that you have a valid reason why you want to do that and how to do it well.
The reason is that once you turn it off, you will no longer get important warning messages about your browser’s security. Your browser will head straight to the insecure website rather than blocking you using the error screen.
If the browser warns you about a potential security threat, it is for a good reason. The insecure website may have malware that may infect or affect your device.
How to Bypass SSL Certificate Errors in Google Chrome
If you are using the Google Chrome browser, all you need to do is copy chrome://flags and paste into the address bar. Once you have done, press enter. If you don’t know how to copy and paste, you can also type by hand.
Look for #allow-insecure-localhost on the next page that displays on your screen. Once you do that, you will see the “Allow invalid certificates for resources loaded from localhost” option. Enable this option and restart your Google Chrome browser.
The moment you are done with this process, you won’t get any warning about an insecure website anymore. The Google Chrome browser will instead head straight to the insecure browser.
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How To Bypass SSL Certificate Errors In Mozilla Firefox
In Firefox Mozilla, there is a different way of bypassing SSL certificate errors. Follow these steps to successfully bypass SSL certificate errors in this browser.
The first thing to do is head over to Mozilla Firefox’s advanced configuration preferences. To do this, copy about: config and paste into the address bar. Once you’ve done this, press enter.
What follows is clicking on the Accept the Risk and Continue button once this message displays: “Changing advanced configuration preferences can impact Firefox performance or security.”
The next step is to search for browser.ssl_override_behavior. Once you find it, adjust its value from 2 to 1, and you are done.
also note- How to resolve SSL related issues in Selenium webdriver using Desired Capability
Conclusion
Bypassing SSL connection error in your browser is easy if you have a solid reason you want to do that. Receiving warning messages about ensuring sites is important because it helps you avoid sites with potential security threats. We hope you found this article on how to bypass SSL certificate errors useful, and you are ready to try it out.
