How to Fix SSL Certificate Errors?
Conquer SSL errors! Pro insights for pros and businesses. Elevate your online security game. Explore, fix, and thrive confidently in the digital realm!
September 2 2021 ใป 5 mins read
How to Fix Certificate Errors?๐ง
An SSL certificate is a standardized security technology for encrypting information between a visitor's browser and your website. Visitors feel safer on SSL-encrypted sites because it helps keep sensitive information, such as passwords and payment information, secure.
SSL certificates authenticate a website and encrypt the exchange of information, preventing third parties from accessing it. In this way, communication between users and websites takes place securely.
You can identify encrypted sites by the HTTPS in their URLs ๐ and the padlock icon ๐ in the address bar. SSL certificates usually contain several main elements:
- Key ๐๏ธ : A mathematical key used for the encryption process between the web server and the browser. There is usually a pair: private key and public key.
- Digital Signature โ๐ฝ : An SSL certificate is signed by a trusted certification authority (CA). This digital signature verifies the validity of the certificate.
- Certificate Holder Information ๐ : It contains information such as the name of the website, domain name, company name that belongs to the certificate.
SSL certificates are important to raise security standards on the Internet and protect users' personal information. E-commerce sites, banks, e-mail service providers and various other websites use SSL certificates to enable users to securely share information.
Recently, however, there has been an increase in error messages that can occur when trying to access an SSL-secured site. This article provides advice on what steps to take if you encounter these errors, including certificate error 404s ๐ง.
What is the SSL Certificate Error?๐ค
An SSL Certificate Error usually refers to a problem that a web browser or other internet-based application encounters when trying to establish a secure connection. These errors can occur for a variety of reasons and indicate situations that need to be resolved by the website owner or certificate authority.
An SSL certificate error occurs when a visitor comes to your website and the web browser displays a warning message with a warning symbol or words indicating that there are problems with the security of your website.
Here are some known SSL certificate errors:
- Invalid Certificate Error ๐ : The browser may show this error if the website's SSL certificate is not valid or has expired. Also, this type of error can be received if the certificate is not signed by one of the browser's trusted certificate authorities.
- Domain Name Not Compatible Error โ : Browsers display this error if the certificate does not match the domain name of the website. This usually occurs if the certificate owner incorrectly created or updated the certificate.
- Secure Connection Error ๐ : Browsers issue this type of warning in the event of an error that prevents the connection from being established securely. This can often occur when encryption protocols are incompatible, keys or encryption algorithms are faulty.
- Self-Signed Certificate Error ๐ท : "Self-signed" certificates created by the website owner and not signed by a trusted certificate authority can cause security warnings in browsers.
- Private Key Error ๐ : If the web server's private key is lost or incorrect, browsers may display security warnings. These errors are usually resolved by website owners or system administrators.
Using an up-to-date and valid SSL certificate, ensuring the correct configuration โ , and ensuring that the certificate authority is reliable ๐ก๏ธ are important steps to prevent such errors.
What causes the SSL certificate errors?๐ค
An SSL certificate usually expires after one year. This means that it can take up to 365 days before you start noticing that visitors to your site are showing SSL errors because your site's SSL certificates have expired. When this happens, you should immediately check to see if any of your SSL certificates have expired and then renew them as soon as possible. You should not wait for the end of the date range before starting the renewal process ๐๏ธ .
If your SSL certificates have expired, you should renew ๐ them immediately without creating problems for anyone visiting your website. But the most difficult reason is that any error in the configuration of SSL Certificates can make your website inaccessible โ to customers.
What should I do if I encounter certificate errors?๐ค๐ปโ ๏ธ
The first thing you need to understand about SSL certificate errors is that they are divided into two categories: user and system. ๐ก๏ธ
User Errors: These occur when a visitor tries to access your website but the browser cannot establish an encrypted connection to your site. The most common user errors are page not found messages such as certificate error 404s or timeout messages. However, there are other types of user errors, including dead connections, expired certificates, or unresponsive websites due to weak passwords. ๐๐
System Errors: System errors occur on the hosting company's server and prevent it from establishing a secure session with your web server. Common system errors include an expired certificate or invalid private keys. ๐ซ๐
If you think your connection may not be secure, please complete the following steps:
- Close your browser window immediately. ๐ช
- If you cannot leave the site without closing your browser window, at least close all open tabs. ๐
- Clear browsing data for the website in question. ๐งน
- To prevent future problems, make sure your computer is free of malware that could cause the problem and update your browser. Also, make sure that there is no network-level interference preventing access to the website. ๐ฆ ๐๐
If you are still getting a certificate error, it is a system error, and you should contact your hosting company to fix this issue. ๐ ๏ธ๐
What are some solutions to fix SSL certificate error?๐ ๏ธ
When you find out that one or more of your SSL certificates have expired, the next step is to replace it as soon as possible. You can use a free SSL Certificate Generator like the one we offer at Comodo InstantSSL. It will help you generate new valid SSL certificates and deliver them to your visitors' browsers ๐ in less than 2 minutes (for free!)
Why Do I Need To Use An SSL Certificate Monitoring?๐ค
Why do I need to use an SSL certificate monitoring? Most consumers today expect web transactions to be secure. Since HTTPS is a must, any mistake in configuration can make your website inaccessible to customers. We keep your SSL certificates up to date so that your website remains accessible and shows your visitors the verified lock with SSL certificate monitoring ๐ .