What the error “This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection” means

First, let’s find out what a “secure connection” is. It is a connection to a website that uses the secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), not HTTP. Browsers usually mark secure websites with a lock icon at the address bar’s beginning, confirming that the connection is secure. The secure connection supposes the encryption of all data packages your device exchanges with the server, so the third party is not able to see the contents. HTTPS offers significant security advantages over HTTP but imposes strict requirements for compliance. One of these is a valid SSL certificate. Thus, the “This site can’t provide a secure connection” error tells us there is a problem with the SSL certificate. That is, the site claims to be HTTPS compliant but either does not provide a certificate or provides an invalid certificate. If the browser can’t verify the certificate, it won’t load the site and will display this error message instead.

Causes of the “This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection” error

If you see a site security warning, it does not necessarily mean the site is unsafe. Although it is not impossible, more often than not, it is less dangerous. The problem can be divided into problems with the web browser or system configuration and issues with the site. You can check this by opening the problem page in several browsers. Suppose you see the error in one browser, which works fine in another. In that case, the problem is probably in the browser (usually the cache). If the error appears in all browsers, the problem is either with your computer or the site itself. Listed below are the most common causes of this error message:

• Incorrect time and date settings on your device. If your laptop has the wrong date and time settings, this can cause problems with SSL certificate authentication. Your PC may think it is already expired or, what is more comic, have not been issued yet.
• Outdated SSL caches in your browser. This is one of the common causes. Because web browsers store SSL certificates in a cache, they don’t need to check the certificate every time you visit a site, thereby speeding up browsing. However, if the SSL certificate changes, but the browser still loads an older version from the cache, it can cause this error.
• Invalid or expired SSL certificate. Certificates must be periodically renewed. You will see this error if the website’s SSL certificate has expired.
• Fraudulent browser extensions. An incorrectly working browser extension can also cause problems with certificate authentication. Often it’s a simple error caused by a poor design, though sometimes the extension can be malicious.
• Overzealous antivirus. Incorrectly configured antivirus software can sometimes erroneously produce this message. This may be due to an encryption error.

Fix the “This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection” error

Fortunately for the user, the problem solving does not require any serious interruptions. However, in certain cases, you will be forced to witness the error until the other party does not deal with an outdated certificate. Below we will look at how to eliminate the secure connection error.

Set the correct date and time

The certificate’s expiration date is significant, and you need to keep an eye on the signing and expiration date of the certificate. Incorrect date and time zone can lead to a secure connection error in Chrome browser. Therefore, ensure that the time on your system is synchronized with your current time zone. In most cases, this simple solution is effective.

Clear Chrome’s browsing data

If the problem persists after setting the date and time, try clearing the Chrome cache and cookies. To do this, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, select the time range “all time,” and click “Clear data“.

Check recently installed extensions

Recently installed extensions and ad blockers can interfere with how you see Chrome sites. First, try removing these extensions and then reloading the web page again. To remove extensions from Chrome, follow these steps:

First, open the Chrome browser and type chrome://extensions in the address bar.

This will take you to the extensions page, where you can click on the “Remove” button next to your recently installed extensions.

You can do the same step to disable ad blockers.

Check your antivirus and firewall settings

Sometimes the connection error in Chrome can occur due to too aggressive or incorrect settings of the antivirus and firewall installed on your PC. Most modern antivirus programs scan websites for malicious elements and other security threats. They also check the SSL/TLS versions of the website. If the website uses an outdated version of SSL, the antivirus will block it. In this case, you can solve the problem by temporarily disabling the antivirus. However, it would not be safe.

Clear SSL state

If the above methods don’t help, try to clear the SSL status. To do this, perform the following steps:

• Open the Start menu.
• Search for and open Internet Properties.
• Select the Content tab.
• Click Clear SSL State

Disable the QUIC protocol

QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections) provides a connection equivalent to TLS/SSL to Google’s servers. QUIC is enabled by default in Chrome. To disable it, copy chrome://flags/#enable-quic, paste it into the address bar, and press Enter. At the top of the screen, the experimental QUIC protocol is set as the Default protocol. Please disable it and restart Chrome.

Enable TLS and SSL support.

TLS and SSL are old protocols that are disabled in most browsers and operating systems. Since most websites use much more secure and fast protocols, Chrome did not allow you to visit this site and warned you that it was not secure. However, you can enable TLS/SSL protocol support:

• Open the Control Panel, find Internet Options.
• Click the Advanced.
• Scroll down and select TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2, SSL 3.0, and SSL 2.0 and click ” OK”.

Restart your computer and try to visit the web page.

The post “This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection”: How to Fix appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

What’s the “Safari Can’t Establish a Secure Connection to the Server” Error?

Apple devices come with a security feature that ensures they’re safe and secure while browsing the web. This makes Apple computers one of the safest options for using the Internet.

This is why Safari, the browser that this website was originally intended to be viewed in, sometimes blocks users from accessing a website that it believes isn’t secure. When this happens, the error message displayed will typically state Safari Cannot Open the Page Cannot Establish a Secure Connection.” Error notifications may include different wordings and may appear in any format. As an example, the image above shows a notification that reads “Safari Can’t Open This Page.”

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Such notification may appear when you are visiting the site with an SSL certificate expired and an unsecure connection. It means the browser doesn’t trust the encrypted data on the site and also indicates that Safari could not successfully access and verify the information. This can happen if a site doesn’t have its SSL certificate configured properly. It’s important to use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and the SSH protocol on websites these days. This is especially true for any websites hosting sensitive data such as a WooCommerce store.

What Causes “Safari Can’t Establish a Secure Connection to the Server” Error?

This error message is usually due to one of two reasons: the website you’re trying to access isn’t secure enough or Safari can’t verify that it is.

To properly fix the “Unable to establish a secure connection” problem and solve it, you need to understand why the site is considered unsecured. Sometimes you may not know what the root cause of a problem is until you investigate different possible solutions.

Several common third-party extensions and add-ons cause the error “Safari cannot establish a secure connection to the server”. This error can occur if you have one of these extensions or add-ins installed. Even a minor error can cause “No secure connection to the server” problems. However, it may be something more complicated, like the version of the Internet protocol you use. The most common reason for the error is the expiration of the SSL site certificate.

How To Fix the “Safari Could Not Establish a Secure Connection to the Server” Error (6 Solutions)

Now that we know what the problem is, and its causes, then we can look at a few ways to fix it. With these tips, you can forget about this bug in your browser.

1. Clear Your Browser Data

Every time you visit a browser, Safari saves some of your data in cookies and caches in your browser. If this data contains outdated data that relates to site encryption or SSL, then this may be the reason for the error message. So to fix the “Safari Cannot Establish Secure Connection to the Server” problem, you should first clear the cache. Then, tap on Preferences > Privacy, then choose Remove All Website Data.

After you have uploaded, you can choose which sites you want to delete the data from. When you finish, click the Done button at the bottom of the screen. After that, to clear your entire browsing history, you can navigate to Safari > History > Clear History.

When you are finished, try visiting the site where the error was displayed. If the error has not disappeared, go to the next solution.

2. Check Your Device’s Date and Time

As odd as it may seem, if your Mac device displays an incorrect date and time, it can sometimes cause problems with Safari. Therefore, it is very important to make sure your time zone and date are set correctly.

To do it, you can tap on the Apple icon, then navigate to System Preferences > Date & Time.

After that, you can confirm that you’re using the right date and time.

You can also have your device automatically sync to your current location on the Time Zone tab. Once done, you can close the window and try accessing the site again.

3. Change Your DNS Settings

If the error persists, you should check your DNS (Domain Name Server) settings. In short, your DNS is like a phone book, allowing devices and websites to access each other. Safari uses your DNS settings to connect to websites.

If there is a problem with your DNS settings, you may see the “Safari cannot open page secure connection” message. To see if this is the case (and fix it), you can try changing your DNS address. For example, you can use Google’s public DNS. Go to Apple > System Preferences > Network.

From this window, choose your connection, then tap on the Advanced tab, followed by DNS. Next, click on the (+) icon next to IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.

After that you can enter the new DNS IP addresses. For example, if you want to use Google’s Public DNS, you can type “8.8.8.8” and “8.8.4.4”.

When you’re finished, tap on the OK button. Recheck the website to see if this process deleted the error message.

4. Uninstall or Disable Your Browser Extensions

As mentioned earlier, extensions or add-ons in your browser can interfere with Safari’s ability to securely connect to websites. This is sometimes common with antivirus programs and security-related extensions.

So, in the next step, try disabling all browser extensions. You can do this by opening Safari, then navigating to Preferences and clicking the Extensions tab.

A list of your extensions will appear in the left column. You can disable an add-on by clicking the check mark next to its name.

Once done, try accessing the site again. If this fixes the “Cannot secure connection to server” problem, you need to determine which extension is to blame. You can do this by systematically activating each plugin and visiting the website each time.

5. Disable IPv6

Internet Protocol (IP) is a set of rules that govern how data moves across the Internet. IPv6 is a newer protocol version. However, some websites still use the old version of IPv4. If this is the case, you may see the “Safari cannot establish a secure connection” message.

So you can try disabling IPv6 on your network. To do this, navigate to System Preferences > Network again, then click your network connection, then click the Advanced button.

On the TCP/IP tab, click the drop-down menu under Configure IPv6 and select Manual.

When done, click the OK button. If IPv6 is the problem, this should do the trick. If not, you can try the last solution.

6. Make Sure Keychain Trusts the Certificate

We’ve already mentioned that sometimes Safari may display a connection error message if it cannot verify the validity of a website’s SSL certificate. If this is the case, you can fix this by configuring the settings in the macOS Keychain Access app.

Keychain Access is an application that stores your passwords, account information, and application certificates. It protects your data and can control which websites your device trusts. So you can tell it to accept SSL certificates for websites in the future.

To do this, go to the website that displayed the error message, then click the lock icon to the left of the address bar, then click View/View Certificate > Details.

With the details pane expanded, click Ctrl + Spacebar. The Spotlight search bar will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. In the search box, enter "keychain".

Then click the system root directory on the left. Find the website’s certificate. Once you find it, go to the “Trust” section. Then click the drop-down menu next to the “When using this certificate” section and select “Always Trust”:

That’s it! You should now be able to successfully access the website without the “Safari Cannot Open the Page Secure Connection” error.

The post Safari Can’t Establish a Secure Connection Error appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.