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"There is a problem with this website's security certificate" when you try to visit a secured website in Internet Explorer

Article ID: 931850 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

A user who tries to connect to a secured Web site by using Windows Internet Explorer may receive the following warning message:

There is a problem with this website's security certificate. The security certificate presented by this website was not issued by a trusted certificate authority.

Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept data you send to the server.
We recommend that you close this webpage and do not continue to this Web site.

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CAUSE

This problem can occur if the client computer's clock is set so that the date/time is later than the expiry date of the web server's SSL certificate.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, an organization that hosts the secure Web site can purchase a certificate for each Web server from a third-party provider. Or, the organization can install a Microsoft Enterprise certification authority in the Active Directory forest. Then, the organization can use this certification authority to generate a certificate for each Web server.

Note Users of client computers that do not belong to the organization's Active Directory forest can visit the certification authority Web site to download the certificate.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, install the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) self-signed certificate on the client computer. To do this, follow these steps:

In Windows Internet Explorer, click Continue to this website (not recommended).

A red Address Bar and a certificate warning appear.
Click the Certificate Error button to open the information window.
Click View Certificates, and then click Install Certificate.
On the warning message that appears, click Yes to install the certificate.

Notes

In Windows Vista, the same issue occurs with self-signed certificates. However, the option to install certificates is not available unless you run Windows Internet Explorer with administrator rights. To do this, right-click the Internet Explorer icon, and then select Run as Administrator.
When the client computer connects to a Web server that is running Windows Server 2003, the client computer reuses the certification authority certificate. The client computer does not use another certificate that is signed by the certification authority.

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