IE8 Windows 7 (64bit) security certificate problem

Question

Hi,

We have just received some new computers for use in the office (Dell Vostro). They seem to work fine in the main. When we use IE8 to go to some web pages such as yahoo mail it tells us:

“There is a problem with this websites security certificate”

If we have a look at the details it says:

“This certificate cannot be verified up to a trusted certification authority”

This however works correctly in Firefox. I don't understand why I should get such an error message, should this not just work?

The PC has Windows & (64 bit) and Norton Internet Security installed.

Answer 1

Don't forget that every browser comes with it's own list of trusted root server certificates. Eg. from microsoft:

The Internet Explorer Certificate Manager enables you to install and remove trusted certificates for clients and CAs. Many CAs have their root certificates already installed in Internet Explorer. You can select any of these installed certificates as trusted CAs for client authentication, secure e-mail, or other certificate purposes, such as code signing and time stamping. If a CA does not have its root certificate in Internet Explorer, you can import it. Each CA's Web site contains instructions that describe how to obtain the root certificate.

Or from mozilla:

View Certificates: Click this button to view stored certificates, import new certificates, and back up or delete old certificates in Firefox.

So if IE and FF come with different lists of trusted Certificate Authorities, then some sites's certificates will be verifiable with one browser, but not the other. I would imagine that a high-profile organisation like Yahoo would use a highly profile CA that would be installed in both browsers.