[Resolved] AW Site Unsafe or Insecure Warning

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Bufty

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Thanks. Gotcha.
 

Jason

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You can add AW to an exception whitelist in your browser settings for the time being...
 

Brightdreamer

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I've seen articles on how the current US government shutdown has affected the renewal of security certificates for government websites - don't know if that has any impact on private sites like this, though.

(Link , also on sites like Fortune and Yahoo Finance, saying basically similar things)
 

AW Admin

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To tell Chrome on macOS to ignore the absence of a current certificate:


In Chrome:
  1. Go to Preferences.
  2. Scroll down to the bottom.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Scroll down to Manage Certificates.
  5. Click Manage Certificates.
  6. You will see you macOS Keychain Access panel.
  7. On the lower half, on the left, under the Category heading, click
    [*]
    . You'll see absolutewrite listed.
  8. Double click Absolutewrite.
  9. Near the top of the window is a disclosure triangle that says Trust; click it.
  10. At the top choose Always Trust.

Chrome for Windows


I don't have a work around that works for everyone. See posts in this thread.

See this post.
 
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AW Admin

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To tell Firefox to ignore the absence of a current certificate:

If you're on AW in Firefox and see the warning screen that says "Your connection is not secure":

  1. Click the Advanced button on the screen
  2. You'll see an explanation that says something like "The certificate expired on January 15, 2019 at 7:39 AM. The current time is January 15, 2019 at 3:29 PM. Error code: SEC_ERROR_EXPIRED_CERTIFICATE.
  3. Click the Add Exception ... button
  4. You'll see a pop up window that says "You are about to overide how Firefox identifies this site."
  5. At the bottom of the window is a button that says Confirm Security Exception.
  6. Click the button. You'll stop seeing the warning.

* If you do not have the small check box beneath this button checked, you'll have to go through this again.
 

themindstream

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I've seen articles on how the current US government shutdown has affected the renewal of security certificates for government websites - don't know if that has any impact on private sites like this, though.

(Link , also on sites like Fortune and Yahoo Finance, saying basically similar things)

Their problem is the system admins whose job it is to send the renewal requests are among the people being furloughed. The companies that process the requests and issue the certificates are unaffected (they are not affiliated with the government) and so are private entities.
 

dpaterso

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Chrome running on Windows 8.1

When I go into Settings > Advanced and select Manage Certificates, up pops this window, with tabs that don't have any obvious ADD options anywhere:

Chrome-manage-certificates1.jpg


scrolling further right to see more tabs:

Chrome-manage-certificates2.jpg


Clicking on the Advanced button in any of these tabs doesn't present options that are any clearer:

Chrome-manage-certificates3.jpg


-Derek
 

Kylabelle

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Chrome on a Chromebook here, and I get a similar list of certificates, with which I do not want to mess. So I will abide with the red "Not secure!" warning, now that they've let me in....

Interesting that the furloughs may be the cause of the problem.... would be the first the shut down has touched me personally if true. Not such a much of a touch.
 

PamelaC

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Also on a Chromebook and I have no certificates listed when I go to Manage Certificates. I don't see anything obvious that I can do to bypass this. It's annoying because it pops up every time I click a new thread. Took me three tries to actually log into the site because it kept kicking me back to the warning where I have to click "Advanced" to have the option to come to the site anyway, and then I was back to square one...not logged in. Finally got through, but I get that warning screen EVERY time I try to do anything on the site. Ugh. Maybe this is my cue to stop farting around on AW and get some actual writing done! :)
 

E.F.B.

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Test test...

Chrome running on Windows 8.1

When I go into Settings > Advanced and select Manage Certificates, up pops this window, with tabs that don't have any obvious ADD options anywhere:

Chrome-manage-certificates1.jpg


scrolling further right to see more tabs:

Chrome-manage-certificates2.jpg


Clicking on the Advanced button in any of these tabs doesn't present options that are any clearer:

Chrome-manage-certificates3.jpg


-Derek
I'm having that^ problem too and am only able to post (in theory...we'll see what happens when click post) right now because I opened an incognito tab and it seems to be letting me use the site without having to click past the red exclamation point page literally every time I try to go to a different part of the site. But all things considered, as long as I can use the site, I'm okay going through an incognito tab until things get worked out. *crosses fingers and clicks post*
 

dpaterso

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Testing testing!

-Derek

- - - Updated - - -

Weirdly, or not, I changed the Windows date back to the 14th and found I could get in okay. The certificate expired on the 15th.

Maybe there are consequences to changing the date, like if I save WIP docs, they'll have been saved on the 14th. I'll keep this in mind, and change the date back when it suits me.

But it seemed like an easy enough workaround, which I wish I'd thought of yesterday.

I'm in Chrome, in AW, signed in, and able to do stuff. That post above was done in Chrome, this post is via my usual Firefox browser.

-Derek
 
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Snitchcat

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I turned on secret mode. After getting to the login page, I was able to browse unaffected.
 

dpaterso

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I turned on secret mode. After getting to the login page, I was able to browse unaffected.
You mean an incognito window? I tried that and got the same not secure warning. It flummoxes me that folks using the same browser seem to get different results. Never mind, as long as you're in!

-Derek
 

lilyWhite

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I got the "Unsecure" warning in Chrome's incognito mode a few times.

After a while, it just...gave up? It stopped giving me the "Unsecure" screen and lets me access as normal. Works perfectly fine.

o_O?
 

Jason

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It's not a certificate setting in Chrome (at least for Windows users). There is a generic "Internet settings" area that Chrome picks up on set by the OS.

To circumvent the certificate date issue until AW ones are updated, do this:

1. Click on the 3 horizontal lines on the far right to get into your settings.
2. Use the search bar at the top of the settings area to search on the word "proxy" (it's under System)
3. Open the window to edit, and change to the Security tab.
4. Select the "Trusted Sites" option toward the right (it's the one with the green check mark)
5. Now, click "add site" and use the root domain (https://absolutewrite.com) so all subdomain references also are approved...

Let me know if anyone wants screenshots of the above :)
 

dpaterso

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dpaterso

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I got the "Unsecure" warning in Chrome's incognito mode a few times.

After a while, it just...gave up? It stopped giving me the "Unsecure" screen and lets me access as normal. Works perfectly fine.

o_O?
I tried and I retried and I retried (x10), alas I could not get that to work for me either, I am accursed.

-Derek
 

dpaterso

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So I followed the instructions, I think, maybe some verification is needed, 'cause I dunno where the heck I'm going wrong with this, shoot me now.

I selected Chrome's menu/hamburger icon at the top right, then selected Settings:

Chrome-settings.jpg


I entered proxy in the search field, which listed "Open proxy settings" which I selected:

Chrome-proxy.jpg


In the pop-up window, I selected the Security tab, the Trusted sites icon, and the Sites button:

Chrome-trusted.jpg


In the next window I typed https://absolutewrite.com into the 'Add this website to the zone' field, then selected the Add button:

Chrome-addsite.jpg


And lo the site was added:

Chrome-siteadded.jpg


I closed this window, returning to the previous window, but then selected the Sites button again to check the AW site URL was still there, because I am untrusting -- but it was indeed there:

Chrome-checksiteadded.jpg


I closed the window again, and selected the OK button to confirm the change:

Chrome-OK.jpg


After this I closed Chrome, then re-opened it, and went through the above again to re-check the AW site URL was still there!

Then I tried going to the forum URL, and saw the same darn message again:

Chrome-error.jpg


Any ideas where I might have gone wrong?

I'll also mention I cleared the cache so nothing from previous attempts should be causing problems.

Edited to add, and I should have said: I also went back into the Trusted site options and unticked that "Require server verification (https://) for all sites in this zone" box just in case it made any difference. It did not.

More edited: I cleared the cache and restarted Chrome again, and checked the URL is still there and the box is unticked, yes and yes -- but I'm seeing the same darn message when I try to get to the AW board. Yet I'm reliably informed this works for others! <dizzy>

-Derek
 
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Ari Meermans

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That's the function Google disabled on the newer versions; I'd have to look back to see which version where it was first disabled. If it's working for some, it's likely because they're still running older versions of Chrome. Mine is the current version and it's disabled.

ETA: "Disabled" is actually the wrong word. It's no longer fully functional online. There are now additional steps to be performed in Windows and I ain't goin' there.
 
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dpaterso

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Thanks Ari! Finally something that makes sense!

When I select Settings > Help > About Google Chrome it tells me,

Google Chrome is up to date
Version 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)

...which I guess sinks me.

-Derek
 

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Ari Meermans

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Yeah, you're gonna have to do the "click, click, done" thang for each page change for the duration like I'm doing.
 
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