mirror of
https://github.com/rn10950/RetroZilla.git
synced 2024-07-08 02:10:14 +02:00
549 lines
26 KiB
HTML
549 lines
26 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
|
|
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"[
|
|
<!ENTITY % brandDTD SYSTEM "chrome://branding/locale/brand.dtd" >
|
|
%brandDTD;
|
|
]>
|
|
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Certificate Information and Decisions</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" href="chrome://help/locale/helpFileLayout.css"
|
|
type="text/css"/>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<div class="boilerPlate">This document is provided for your information only.
|
|
It may help you take certain steps to protect the privacy and security of
|
|
your personal information on the Internet. This document does not, however,
|
|
address all online privacy and security issues, nor does it represent a
|
|
recommendation about what constitutes adequate privacy and security
|
|
protection on the Internet.</div>
|
|
|
|
<h1 id="certificate_information_and_decisions">Certificate Information and
|
|
Decisions</h1>
|
|
|
|
<p>This section describes how to use various windows displayed at different times by
|
|
Certificate Manager. The additional information given here appears when you click
|
|
the Help button in one of those windows.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#certificate_viewer">Certificate Viewer</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#choose_security_device">Choose Security Device</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#encryption_key_copy">Encryption Key Copy</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#certificate_backup">Certificate Backup</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#user_identification_request">User Identification Request</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#new_certificate_authority">New Certificate Authority</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#web_site_certificates">Website Certificates</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="certificate_viewer">Certificate Viewer</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Certificate Viewer displays information about a certificate you selected
|
|
in one of the Certificate Manager tabs. The General tab summarizes
|
|
information about who issued the certificate, its verification status, what
|
|
the certificate can be used for, and so on. The Details tab provides complete
|
|
details on the certificate's contents.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you are not currently viewing the Certificate Viewer, follow these
|
|
steps:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
|
|
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
|
|
<li>Under the Privacy & Security category, click Certificates. (If no
|
|
subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand
|
|
the list.)</li>
|
|
<li>Click Manage Certificates.</li>
|
|
<li>Click the tab for the type of certificate whose details you want to
|
|
view.</li>
|
|
<li>Select the certificate whose details you want to view.</li>
|
|
<li>Click View.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#general_tab">General Tab</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#details_tab">Details Tab</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="general_tab">General Tab</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>When you first open the Certificate Viewer, the General tab displays several
|
|
kinds of information about the selected certificate:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>This certificate has been verified for the following
|
|
uses</strong>: See
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate_verification">certificate verification</a>
|
|
for a discussion of how the Certificate Manager verifies certificates. Uses
|
|
can include any of the following:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>SSL Client Certificate</strong>: Certificate used to identify
|
|
you to websites.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>SSL Server Certificate</strong>: Certificate used to identify
|
|
a website server to browsers.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Email Signer Certificate</strong>: Certificate used to
|
|
identify you for the purposes of digitally signing email messages.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Email Recipient Certificate</strong>: Certificate used to
|
|
identify someone else, for example so you can send that person
|
|
encrypted email.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Status Responder Certificate</strong>: Certificate used to
|
|
identify an online status responder that uses the Online Certificate
|
|
Status Protocol (OCSP) to check the validity of certificates. For more
|
|
information about OCSP, see
|
|
<a href="validation_help.xhtml">Validation Settings</a>.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>SSL Certificate Authority</strong>: Certificate used to
|
|
identify a certificate authority—that is, a service that issues
|
|
certificates for use as identification over computer networks.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Issued To</strong>: Summarizes the following information about
|
|
the certificate:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Common Name</strong>: The name of the person or other entity
|
|
that the certificate identifies.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Organization</strong>: The name of the organization to which
|
|
the entity belongs (such as the name of a company).</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Organizational Unit</strong>: The name of the organizational
|
|
unit to which the entity belongs (such as Accounting Department).</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Serial Number</strong>: The certificate's serial
|
|
number.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Issued By</strong>: Summarizes information (similar to that
|
|
provided under <q>Issued To</q>; see above) about the certificate authority
|
|
(CA) that issued the certificate.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Validity</strong>: Indicates the period during which the
|
|
certificate is valid.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Fingerprints</strong>: Lists the certificate's fingerprints.
|
|
A fingerprint is a unique number produced by applying a mathematical
|
|
function to the certificate contents. A certificate's fingerprint can
|
|
be used to verify that the certificate has not been tampered with.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="details_tab">Details Tab</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Click the Details tab at the top of the Certificate Viewer to see more
|
|
detailed information about the selected certificate. To examine information
|
|
for any certificate in the Certificate Hierarchy area, select its name,
|
|
select the field under Certificate Fields that you want to examine, and
|
|
read the field's value under Field Value:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Certificate Hierarchy</strong>: Displays the certificate chain,
|
|
with the certificate you originally selected at the bottom. A certificate
|
|
chain is a hierarchical series of certificates signed by successive
|
|
certificate authorities (CAs). A CA certificate identifies a
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate_authority">certificate authority</a>
|
|
and is used to sign certificates issued by that authority. A CA certificate
|
|
can in turn be signed by the CA certificate of a parent CA and so on up to
|
|
a <a href="glossary.xhtml#root_ca">root CA</a>.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Certificate Fields</strong>: Displays the fields of the
|
|
certificate selected under Certificate Hierarchy.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Field Value</strong>: Displays the value of the field selected
|
|
under Certificate Fields.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Certificate Viewer displays basic ANSI types in human-readable form
|
|
wherever possible. For fields whose contents the Certificate Manager cannot
|
|
interpret, it displays the actual values contained in the certificate.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="choose_security_device">Choose Security Device</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>A security device (sometimes called a token) is a hardware or software
|
|
device that provides cryptographic services such as encryption and decryption
|
|
and stores certificates and keys. The Choose Security Device window appears
|
|
when Certificate Manager needs help deciding which security device to use
|
|
when importing a certificate or performing a cryptographic operation, such as
|
|
generating keys for a new certificate. This window allows you to select one
|
|
of two or more security devices that Certificate Manager has detected on your
|
|
machine.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>A smart card is one example of a security device. For example, if a smart
|
|
card reader connected to your computer has a smart card inserted in it, the
|
|
name of the smart card will show up in the drop-down menu. In this case, you
|
|
must choose the name of the smart card from the menu to let Certificate
|
|
Manager know that you want to use it.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Certificate Manager also supplies its own default, built-in security
|
|
device, which can always be used no matter what additional devices are or
|
|
aren't available.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="encryption_key_copy">Encryption Key Copy</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate_authority">Certificate authorities (CAs)</a>
|
|
that issue separate signing and encryption email certificates typically make
|
|
backup copies of your private
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#encryption_key">encryption key</a> during the
|
|
certificate enrollment process.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Encryption Key Copy dialog box allows you to approve the creation of
|
|
such a backup or cancel the certificate request. A CA that has archived a
|
|
backup copy of your encryption key has the potential capability of
|
|
decrypting any messages you receive that were encrypted with your
|
|
corresponding public key.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>You can take these actions from the Encryption Key Copy dialog box:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>View Certificate</strong>: To view the certificate identifying
|
|
the CA that is requesting the backup copy, click View Certificate.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>OK</strong>: If you trust the CA identified by the CA certificate
|
|
to decrypt encrypted messages that you receive, click OK.
|
|
|
|
<p>If you are not sure whether to trust the CA that is requesting the
|
|
backup copy, talk to your system administrator.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Cancel</strong>: If you don't trust the CA that is
|
|
requesting the backup copy, don't request a certificate from it. Click
|
|
Cancel to stop both the backup procedure and the request for a
|
|
certificate.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>After your CA makes a backup copy of the encryption key, you will be able to
|
|
use that key to access your encrypted mail even if you lose your password or
|
|
lose your own copy of the key. If no backup copy of your encryption key
|
|
exists and you lose your password or the key, you will have no way of reading
|
|
email messages that were encrypted with that key.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="certificate_backup">Certificate Backup</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>When you receive a certificate, make a backup copy of the certificate and
|
|
its private key, then store the copy in a safe place. For example, you can
|
|
put the copy on a floppy disk and store it with other valuable items under
|
|
lock and key. That way, even if you have hard disk or file corruption
|
|
problems, you can easily restore the certificate.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>It can be inconvenient, at best, and in some situations catastrophic to lose
|
|
your certificate and its associated private key, depending on what you use it
|
|
for. For example:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>If you lose a certificate that identifies you to important websites, you
|
|
will not be able to access those websites until you obtain a new
|
|
certificate. </li>
|
|
<li>If you lose a certificate used to encrypt email messages, you will not
|
|
be able to read any of your encrypted email—including both encrypted
|
|
messages that you have sent and encrypted messages that you have received.
|
|
In this case, if you cannot obtain a backup of the private encryption key
|
|
associated with the certificate, you will never be able to read any of the
|
|
messages encrypted with that key.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>Like any other valuable data, certificates should be backed up to avoid
|
|
future trouble and expense. Do it now so you don't forget.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="user_identification_request">User Identification Request</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Some websites require that you identify yourself with a certificate rather
|
|
than a name and password, because certificates provide a more reliable form
|
|
of identification. This method of identifying yourself over the Internet is
|
|
sometimes called
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#client_authentication">client authentication</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, Certificate Manager may have more than one certificate on file that
|
|
can be used for the purposes of identifying yourself to a website. In this
|
|
case, Certificate Manager presents the User Identification Request dialog
|
|
box, which displays two kinds of information:</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>This site has requested that you identify yourself with a
|
|
certificate</strong>: This section of the dialog box lists the following
|
|
information:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Host name</strong>: The name of the server requesting
|
|
identification, used as part of its URL. For example, the host name for the
|
|
Netscape website is <tt>home.netscape.com</tt>.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Organization</strong>: The name of the organization that runs the
|
|
web site.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Issued under</strong>: The name of the
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate_authority">certificate authority (CA)</a>
|
|
that issued the certificate.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Choose a certificate to present as identification</strong>: The
|
|
certificates you have available for the purposes of identifying yourself to a
|
|
website are listed in the drop-down list in this section of the dialog box.
|
|
Choose the certificate that seems most likely to be recognized by the website
|
|
you want to visit.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>To help you decide, the following details of the selected certificate are
|
|
displayed:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Issued to</strong>: Lists information about the person identified
|
|
by the certificate (for example, your name and email address) and the
|
|
certificate's serial number and validity dates.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Issued by</strong>: Summarizes information about the CA that
|
|
issued the certificate, such as its name, location, and state.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="new_certificate_authority">New Certificate Authority</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The certificates that the Certificate Manager has on file, whether stored on
|
|
your computer or on an external security device such as a smart card, include
|
|
certificates that identify
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate_authority">certificate authorities (CAs)</a>.
|
|
To be able to recognize any other certificates it has on file, Certificate
|
|
Manager must have certificates for the CAs that issued or authorized issuance
|
|
of those certificates.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>When you decide to trust a CA, Certificate Manager downloads that CA's
|
|
certificate and can then recognize the kinds of certificates you trust that
|
|
CA to issue.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Before downloading a new CA certificate, Certificate Manager allows you to
|
|
specify the purposes for which you trust the certificate, if at all. You can
|
|
select any of the following options:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Trust this CA to identify websites</strong>: Website certificates
|
|
for some sites, such as those that handle financial transactions, can be
|
|
extremely important, and inappropriate or false identification can have
|
|
negative consequences.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Trust this CA to identify email users</strong>: If you intend to
|
|
send email users confidential information in encrypted form, or if accurate
|
|
identification of email users is important to you for any other reason, you
|
|
should consider carefully the CA's procedures for identifying
|
|
prospective certificate owners and whether they are appropriate for your
|
|
purposes before selecting this option.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Trust this CA to identify software developers</strong>: Selecting
|
|
this option means that you trust the CA to issue certificates that identify
|
|
the origin of Java applets and JavaScript scripts requesting special access
|
|
to your computer, such as the ability to change files. Since such access
|
|
privileges can be misused, for example to destroy data stored on your hard
|
|
disk, be very careful about selecting this option unless you are certain
|
|
that you trust the CA for this purpose.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>Before you decide to trust a new CA, make sure that you know who is
|
|
operating it. Make sure the CA's policies and procedures are
|
|
appropriate for the kinds of certificates it issues. For example, if the CA
|
|
issues certificates identifying websites you use for financial transactions,
|
|
make sure you are comfortable with the level of assurance the CA
|
|
provides.</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>View</strong>: Click this button to view the CA certificate you
|
|
are about to download. If you decide you don't want to download this
|
|
certificate, click Cancel.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="web_site_certificates">Website Certificates</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>One of the windows listed here may appear when you attempt to go to a
|
|
website that supports the use of <a href="glossary.xhtml#ssl">SSL</a> for
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#authentication">authentication</a> and
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#encryption">encryption</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#web_site_certified_by_an_unknown_authority">Website Certified
|
|
by an Unknown Authority</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#server_certificate_expired">Server Certificate Expired</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#server_certificate_not_yet_valid">Server Certificate Not Yet
|
|
Valid</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="#domain_name_mismatch">Domain Name Mismatch</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="web_site_certified_by_an_unknown_authority">Website Certified by an Unknown
|
|
Authority</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Many websites use certificates to identify themselves when you visit the
|
|
site. If Certificate Manager doesn't recognize the
|
|
<a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate_authority"> certificate authority (CA)</a>
|
|
that issued a website's certificate, it displays an alert that allows
|
|
you to examine the new website certificate and decide what to do.</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Examine Certificate</strong>: Click this button to view the
|
|
website's certificate.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>You can choose one of these options from this alert:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Accept this certificate permanently</strong>: Select this option
|
|
to accept the certificate (despite the apparent problem) and connect to the
|
|
website. Certificate Manager will recognize this certificate as legitimate
|
|
identification until the certificate expires.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Accept this certificate temporarily for this session</strong>:
|
|
Select this option to accept the certificate temporarily and connect to the
|
|
website. Certificate Manager will recognize this certificate as legitimate
|
|
identification only until the next time you launch the browser. You may see
|
|
the same alert the next time you attempt to visit the website.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Do not accept this certificate and do not connect to this
|
|
website</strong>: Select this option if you decide not to visit the website
|
|
at all. This option might be appropriate, for example, if you perform
|
|
financial transactions at the website. In this case you might want to
|
|
report the problem to the bank or other organization that runs the site and
|
|
confirm that the site's certificate is valid before you go any
|
|
further.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>Click OK to confirm your choice. If you click Cancel, Certificate Manager
|
|
will not recognize the certificate as legitimate identification and will not
|
|
connect to the web site.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Important note for server administrators</strong>: This alert may be
|
|
triggered by a server that is not configured correctly. To find out if this
|
|
is the case, the server administrator or webmaster for the site you are
|
|
attempting to visit should check the status of any required intermediate CAs
|
|
and if necessary, install the missing certificate in the server.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you decide to contact the website's webmaster about this issue, you
|
|
can include the following information:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>The server administrator can obtain more information about intermediate
|
|
CAs from here:
|
|
<a href="http://knowledge.verisign.com/search/solution.jsp?id=vs2119">What
|
|
is the purpose of the Intermediate CA certificate?</a></li>
|
|
<li>If the server is using a VeriSign certificate, the server administrator
|
|
can download the appropriate certificate from here:
|
|
<a href="http://www.verisign.com/support/ssl-certificates-support/install-ssl-certificate.html">SSL
|
|
Certificates Support</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>For advanced users</strong>: To ensure that Certificate Manager
|
|
trusts all certificates issued by a given CA, you can edit the trust
|
|
settings for the corresponding CA certificate. To do so, follow these
|
|
steps:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
|
|
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
|
|
<li>Under the Privacy & Security category, click Certificates. (If no
|
|
subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand
|
|
the list.)</li>
|
|
<li>Click Manage Certificates.</li>
|
|
<li>Click the Authorities tab.</li>
|
|
<li>Select the CA certificate whose trust settings you want to edit.</li>
|
|
<li>Click the Edit button and select the appropriate trust settings.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="server_certificate_expired">Server Certificate Expired</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Like a credit card, a driver's license, and many other forms of
|
|
identification, a <a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate">certificate</a> is
|
|
valid for a specified period of time. When a certificate expires, the owner
|
|
of the certificate needs to get a new one.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Certificate Manager warns you when you attempt to visit a website whose
|
|
server certificate has expired. The first thing you should do is make sure
|
|
the time and date displayed by your computer is correct. If your
|
|
computer's clock is set to a date that is after the expiration date,
|
|
Certificate Manager treats the website's certificate as expired.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If your computer's clock is set correctly, you need to make a decision
|
|
about whether to trust the site. This decision depends on what you intend to
|
|
do at the site and what else you know about it. Most commercial sites will
|
|
make sure that they replace their certificates before they expire.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>You can take these actions from the Expired Server Certificate dialog
|
|
box:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>View Certificate</strong>: To examine information about the
|
|
certificate, including its validity period, click View Certificate.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Continue</strong>: If you have reason to believe the
|
|
certificate's expiration is an inadvertent error, you may choose to
|
|
click Continue to accept the certificate anyway for this session, and let
|
|
the webmaster for the site know about the problem.
|
|
|
|
<p>Be cautious about any actions you take while you are visiting the
|
|
site.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Cancel</strong>: If you suspect that there may be a significant
|
|
problem and you don't want to risk visiting the site at all, click
|
|
Cancel (in which case Certificate Manager will not connect you to the
|
|
site).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="server_certificate_not_yet_valid">Server Certificate Not Yet Valid</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Like a credit card, a driver's license, and many other forms of
|
|
identification, a <a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate">certificate</a> is
|
|
valid for a specified period of time.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Certificate Manager warns you when you attempt to visit a website whose
|
|
server certificate's validity period has not yet started. The first
|
|
thing you should do is make sure the time and date displayed by your own
|
|
computer is correct. If your computer's clock is set to the wrong date,
|
|
Certificate Manager may treat the server certificate as not yet valid even
|
|
if this is not the case.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If your computer's clock is set correctly, you need to make a decision
|
|
about whether to trust the site. This decision depends on what you intend to
|
|
do at the site and what else you know about it. Most commercial sites will
|
|
make sure that the validity period for their certificates has begun before
|
|
beginning to use them.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>You can take these actions from the Server Certificate Not Yet Valid dialog
|
|
box:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>View Certificate</strong>: To examine information about the
|
|
certificate, including its validity period, click View Certificate.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>OK</strong>: If you have reason to believe the problem is an
|
|
inadvertent error, you may choose to click OK to accept the certificate
|
|
anyway for this session, and let the webmaster for the site know about the
|
|
problem.
|
|
|
|
<p>Be cautious about any actions you take while you are visiting the
|
|
site.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Cancel</strong>: If you suspect that there may be a significant
|
|
problem and you don't want to risk visiting the site at all, click
|
|
Cancel (in which case Certificate Manager will not connect you to the
|
|
site).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="domain_name_mismatch">Domain Name Mismatch</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>A server <a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate">certificate</a> specifies the
|
|
name of the server in the form of the site's domain name. For example,
|
|
the domain name for the Mozilla website is <tt>www.mozilla.org</tt>. If the
|
|
domain name in a server's certificate doesn't match the actual
|
|
domain name of the website, it may be a sign that someone is attempting to
|
|
intercept your communication with the website.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The decision whether to trust the site anyway depends on what you intend to
|
|
do at the site and what else you know about it. Most commercial sites will
|
|
make sure that the host name for a website certificate matches
|
|
the website's actual host name.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>You can take these actions from the Domain Name Mismatch dialog box:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>View Certificate</strong>: To examine information about the
|
|
certificate, click View Certificate.</li>
|
|
<li><strong>OK</strong>: If you have reason to believe the problem is an
|
|
inadvertent error, you may choose to click OK to accept the certificate
|
|
anyway for this session, and let the webmaster for the site know about
|
|
the problem.
|
|
|
|
<p>Be cautious about any actions you take while you are visiting the site,
|
|
and treat any information you find there as potentially suspect.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li><strong>Cancel</strong>: If you suspect that there may be a significant
|
|
problem and you don't want to risk visiting the site at all, click
|
|
Cancel (in which case Certificate Manager will not connect you to the
|
|
site).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you decide to accept the certificate anyway for this session, you should
|
|
be cautious about what you do on the website, and you should treat any
|
|
information you find there as potentially suspect.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Copyright © 2003-2010 The Mozilla Foundation.</p>
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|