Web Browser Security User Interfaces: Hard to Get Right and Increasingly Inconsistent

Browser-ssl-ui-comparison1

This interesting and useful post on Web Browser Security User Interfaces: Hard to Get Right and Increasingly Inconsistent by Steve Schultze highlights the growing differences between how browsers interpret the varying security aspects of SSL certificates. I highly recommend reading the article to get a good understand of how your website will look in all the different browsers depending on the type of SSL certificate you use.

Despite the CAB forum's existence as a way of unifying the SSL/browser experience each browsers seems to have its own interpretation of how these "standards" should be implemented.

Earlier I posted about how Firefox 4.0 no longer had the padlock symbol on secure websites. The padlock symbol has been a long standing and instantly recognised way of highlighting secure websites. But, as suggested by Firefox, has this lead to a false sense of security?

Green is the emerging colour for websites using Extended Validation SSL certificates. But there is also wildy different interpretations of how this should be implemented. IE8+ has implemented an entire green address bar while FireFox and Chrome have opted for just the company name in green. Safari 4 implementation is even less obvious with just the letters in green.

What is your view on the different browser implementations? Was Firefox right to drop the padlock symbol?

Filed under  //  EV   SSL   browsers   cab   chrome   firefox   forum   ie   safari  
Posted by Andy Gambles 

Important RapidSSL Updates

To fall in line with new CAB forum guidelines there are a few important updates to RapidSSL certificates (including wildcard).

Intermediate CA
The RapidSSL certificate will be issued using an intermediate CA from 9 December 2010. This intermediate certificate must be installed with your certificate to ensure the best browser compatibility.

The intermediate CA can be downloaded from here

Block CSR requests under 2048bits
For certificates that extend beyond 2 years you will not be able to use a CSR request using less than 2048bit. This is to ensure that all certificates are at least 2048bit by 2012.

Free lifetime re-issues
The good news is as reported earlier RapidSSL certificates now include free lifetime re-issues.

Filed under  //  SSL   ca   cab   csr   intermediate   rapidssl  
Posted by Andy Gambles