Warning "Server certificate expired": causes and solutions

Probably, it is not worth saying that most users of computer systems, one way or another, faced an unpleasant problem when, at the entrance to the site, instead of the expected opening of the page on the screen of a monitor or mobile device, an error appears stating that the server certificate expired. With what it is connected and how to deal with it, now it will be considered.

What does the presence of a safety certificate indicate?

In general, the availability of certificates "issued" to a particular web resource, prepared for the user or the Internet surfer can say a lot. As a rule, the most important thing is that the site has a legal owner (natural or legal person), which, if there are problems on the site or even if the certificate has expired, it can be determined quite easily.

The second point is that the user sees before himself not a one-day site or a phishing page, but a serious online resource that assumes a long-term existence. In terms of the security of the computer system of the site visitor, a certificate and certifies that this resource can be trusted entirely, which is most often due to the fact that the user will have to enter his registration data there, which will be reliably protected from prying eyes.

Server certificate error: possible reasons

The reasons that cause such disruptions can be quite a lot. However, as the main sources of warning messages such as "Expired server certificate expired," experts are most often called the most common ones:

• Inconsistency of the system date and time of the computer or mobile gadget to the real one;
• Incorrect actions of the web developer of the site, who really forgot to renew the certificate;
• Blocking resources by browsers, antivirus programs or Windows protection.

The consequences of the impact of viruses penetrating the system are now not being discussed. For the most part this applies to cyber attacks on the sites themselves, after which the existing electronic document is replaced with an invalid server certificate. However, the user by and large in this case, nothing is threatened (unless, of course, do stupid things and try to go to the site at all costs). It is better to contact the owner of the resource by sending a letter by e-mail.

The server name does not match the certificate: how to understand this?

As for errors of this type, most likely, they only testify that the certificate was forged. In other words, this is the so-called spontaneously signed "linden", which has nothing to do with the official certification.

In simple terms, phishing sites are created in such a simple way , the owners or developers of which are trying to access confidential visitor data (logins, passwords, PIN codes, bank card numbers, etc.).

But most often this is due to incorrect settings of mail servers or e-mail applications that can use secure connection protocols such as SSL or TLS. But now we will not go into the details of programming, but we'll take a look at the simplest cases of fixing the "Server certificate expired" error.

The easiest way to fix the problem

The simplest thing that can be done is to pay attention to the time set in the system. If the user sees that the date and time do not coincide with the real ones, you should change the settings.

But only do it not in Windows, but in the BIOS. There is a special section of settings in which these parameters are usually called System Time / System Date (partitions settings in different versions of the BIOS and from different developers may differ). How to proceed? Simply put the correct values, save the changes and reboot the computer or laptop.

In mobile devices everything is much easier. The date and time change in the settings quite simply. Even a reboot is not required. As it is already clear, errors of this type arise exclusively with active connection to the Internet. If the site was visited earlier, and is currently viewed offline, nothing of the kind will happen.

Security settings for antivirus, firewall and browser

Often, the system issues a message stating that the server's certificate expired only because the resource is for some reason blocked by security modules (antivirus, firewall, browser, or all).

In antiviruses, this is most often Avira, although it is not the only package. What to do? Yes, just try to temporarily disable the protection and attempt to enter. If everything is fine, you will need to add the resource to the exclusion list.

The same goes for the firewall, only here the browser is blocked. As already clear. Putting it on the list of reliable programs allows you to eradicate the problem.

As for browsers, in either of them you should go to the main or advanced settings menu, select the appropriate security settings, and disable the system check. But, in principle, at your own peril and risk, you can accept a certificate to enter the site or simply ignore such a message, but only if you completely trust this resource, and before failures were not observed.

Conclusion

Here is a brief summary of everything related to the problem of electronic certificates. It did not specifically address issues related to programming or web development, as well as the problems of setting up mail clients, since these are very specific topics that require detailed explanation and some initial knowledge.