PKI Consortium blog

Posts by author Bruce Morton

    Chrome Kills Mixed Content for HTTPS
    December 6, 2019 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Attack Chrome Firefox Mixed Content Policy SSL/TLS
    In a phased approach, Chrome plans to block mixed content on secure websites to improve user security. Most browsers already block some mixed content such as scripts and iframes by default. Chrome is amping it up by gradually taking steps to also block images, audio recordings and videos, according to a recent Google Security blog. Preventing mixed content to load will eventually result in HTTPS websites losing their security indicator downgrading the site to HTTP, which alerts visitors that the site is not secure.

    2019 – Looking Back, Moving Forward
    January 3, 2019 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Attack CA/Browser Forum Certificate Expiry Chrome Code Signing DV ECC EV Forward Secrecy Identity Mis-issued Phishing PKI Policy Qualified Revocation RSA SSL/TLS TLS 1.0 TLS 1.3 Vulnerability
    Looking Back at 2018 2018 was an active year for SSL/TLS. We saw the SSL/TLS certificate validity period drop to 825-days and the mass deployment of Certificate Transparency (CT). TLS 1.3 protocol was finally completed and published; and Chrome status bar security indicators changing to remove “secure” and to concentrate on “not secure.” The CA/Browser Forum has been reformed, the London Protocol was announced and the nearly full distrust of Symantec SSL completed.

    CA Security Council (CASC) 2019 Predictions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
    December 6, 2018 by Bruce Morton (Entrust), Chris Bailey (Entrust), Jay Schiavo (Entrust) Apple Attack CASC Chrome DV Encryption EV Firefox Google Identity IETF Malware Microsoft Phishing SSL/TLS TLS 1.0 TLS 1.2 TLS 1.3
    As the legendary coach of the NY Yankees Yogi Berra allegedly said, “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” But we’re going to try. Here are the CA Security Council (CASC) 2019 Predictions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Good Prediction: By the end of 2019, over 90% of the world’s http traffic will be secured over SSL/TLS Encryption boosts user security and privacy, and the combined efforts of browsers and Certification Authorities (CAs) over the past few years have moved us rapidly to a world approaching 100% encryption.

    Chrome Will Show Not Secure for all HTTP Sites Starting July 2018
    February 15, 2018 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Android Chrome Google HSTS Phishing SSL/TLS Vulnerability
    Through 2017 and into 2018, we have seen the use of HTTPS grow substantially. Last Fall Google announced the following status: Over 68% of Chrome traffic on both Android and Windows is now protected Over 78% of Chrome traffic on both Chrome OS and Mac is now protected 81 of the top 100 sites on the web use HTTPS by default Google helped to drive this growth by implementing the “Secure” and “Not secure” status in Chrome’s status bar.

    2018 – Looking Back, Moving Forward
    January 6, 2018 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Attack CA/Browser Forum CAA Certificate Expiry Chrome ECC Encryption Google Microsoft Mis-issued OV PDF PKI ROCA RSA SSL/TLS TLS 1.3 Vulnerability
    Looking Back at 2017 2017 saw the end of SHA-1 in public trust SSL/TLS certificates and the start of Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) allowing domain owners to authorize their CA. A “Not secure” browser indication was propagated to push more websites to support HTTPS. There was also a change in the certification authority (CA) ownership with DigiCert acquiring Symantec’s SSL and related PKI business and Francisco Partners buying Comodo’s CA.

    Certificate Transparency Deadline Moved to April 2018
    May 3, 2017 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Chrome Google IETF Policy SSL/TLS
    Google just announced they will not be enforcing certificate transparency (CT) logging for all new TLS certificates until April 2018. In a previous blog post, we advised that Google provided a new policy, which required new TLS certificates to be published to the CT logs in order for the domain to be trusted by Chrome. The reason for the delay was not clear, but Google needs to consider the following:

    2017 – Looking Back, Moving Forward
    January 13, 2017 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) 3DES Apple Attack CA/Browser Forum CAA Chrome Code Signing Encryption Firefox Google Identity Malware MITM Policy Revocation RSA SSL 3.0 SSL/TLS TLS 1.3 TSA Vulnerability
    Looking Back at 2016 Fortunately, 2016 was not a year full of SSL/TLS vulnerabilities. Although some researchers did prove old cryptography algorithms should be put out to pasture. The year showed the end of public-trusted SHA-1 SSL/TLS certificates. It also showed more transparency should be considered due to issues discovered with a few certification authorities (CAs). The great news is HTTPS is no longer the minority — after 20 years, connections using HTTPS has surpassed HTTP.

    Stricter Standards for SSL Server Test Coming in 2017
    December 13, 2016 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) 3DES CASC Forward Secrecy RC4 SSL/TLS TLS 1.3 Vulnerability
    This is a good time to offer a reminder that the CASC has a great tool for secure server testing, the SSL Server Test. The tool grades your server installation and reviews the: certificate, protocol support, key exchange and cipher strength for security against standards and known vulnerabilities. The grading tool also provides feedback on handshake simulations with various versions of browsers and operating systems. This lets the server administrator know which implementations are supported.

    Why Is Certificate Expiration Necessary?
    October 19, 2016 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Attack CA/Browser Forum EV Hash Function Identity OCSP Policy RSA SSL/TLS Vulnerability
    The Long Life Certificate – Why It Doesn’t Exist Why is certificate expiration even necessary? Wouldn’t it be better if I could just buy a certificate with a long life before expiration? It would really simplify certificate management if it could be installed and forgotten. Simple, no management required, just file-and-forget. Imagine, I’ve been in business, starting say 10 to 15 years ago. I roll out my web pages and secure them with a 20-year-validity SSL certificate.

    Chrome to Show HTTP Sites as Not Secure
    September 15, 2016 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) Chrome Google HSTS SSL/TLS Vulnerability
    Always-On SSL should be deployed to prevent the “Not secure” warning Website owners who do not secure their website with an SSL/TLS certificate will have to rethink their online strategy. In a push to make the Internet safer for all users, Google will soon be issuing a stronger warning to visitors who navigate to a website that does not have the protection of an SSL/TLS certificate. With the release of Chrome 53 on Windows, Google has changed the trust indications to introduce the circle-i.

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