Incorrect Firefox Warning for Bitcoin website

raven1322

full member

Activity: 171

Merit: 105

Quote from: I-am-not-anonymous on February 14, 2010, 11:24:16 PM

I hate to be the bearer of annoying news, but:

Certificate details from firefox: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47538931@N04/show/

This doesn't bother me I still use the site, but I can't help but think some paranoid people might turn tail at the site of the bright yellow Danger signs.

No need to worry for this kind of protection from firefox. Since BTC is now being adapted globally, not all would be affected of this kind of feedback.

I-am-not-anonymous

newbie

Activity: 23

Merit: 0

Quote from: theymos on February 16, 2010, 12:17:17 AM

The CA's root certificate needs to be included in the browser to make the warning go away. CACert isn't included in any popular browser, and Startcom was only recently added to Windows. With Startcom, anyone who doesn't install the optional root certificates update in Windows update will still get an error in Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Firefox has had it built-in for a while.

HTTPS isn't the default (or really necessary) for bitcoin.org, so it doesn't much matter. If you want to manually switch to HTTPS, then you can deal with the self-signed certificate.

I see now why now why bitcoin doesn't need a CA, most people will not access it with the https protocol and therefore won't be spooked off by scary warning labels like the ones I got. Good to know.

theymos

administrator

Activity: 5222

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The CA's root certificate needs to be included in the browser to make the warning go away. CACert isn't included in any popular browser, and Startcom was only recently added to Windows. With Startcom, anyone who doesn't install the optional root certificates update in Windows update will still get an error in Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Firefox has had it built-in for a while.

HTTPS isn't the default (or really necessary) for bitcoin.org, so it doesn't much matter. If you want to manually switch to HTTPS, then you can deal with the self-signed certificate.

I-am-not-anonymous

newbie

Activity: 23

Merit: 0

Quote from: theymos on February 15, 2010, 03:43:04 AM

Unfortunately, getting a signature costs money.

Would something like this help:

http://cert.startcom.org/
http://www.cacert.org/

I don't mean to sound presumptuous or arrogant--I am fully aware of my own ignorance and that the above links could be completely useless--just a suggestion.

theymos

administrator

Activity: 5222

Merit: 13032

The TLS certificate is self-signed, so the warning is "correct". The encryption is just as strong as any other HTTPS connection, but without a CA's signature the site's identity can't be guaranteed -- a man-in-the-middle attack could be used. Unfortunately, getting a signature costs money.

Verifying the certificate's fingerprint here before adding an exception will prevent any MITM attack. This is only necessary when you add an exception; subsequent MITM attempts will trigger a warning by your browser.

Xunie

full member

Activity: 132

Merit: 101

Google Chrome 5.0.307.7 beta (on debian) reports the same thing.

I-am-not-anonymous

newbie

Activity: 23

Merit: 0

I hate to be the bearer of annoying news, but:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4357986935_a3a337fd96_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4357986949_21230f426e_o.jpg

Certificate details from firefox: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47538931@N04/show/

This doesn't bother me I still use the site, but I can't help but think some paranoid people might turn tail at the site of the bright yellow Danger signs.

Topic: Incorrect Firefox Warning for Bitcoin website (Read 14286 times)