Safety is paramount when using the Internet. The user must not only be protected by the RGPD against misuse and data theft; but also by a constant development of the technical structure to guarantee a safe browsing experience. For this reason, in today's Internet browsers security features are constantly integrated with the objective of protecting the user. Encrypted data transfer via HTTPS has practically become the standard..
Google Chrome also attaches special importance to security. Therefore, when accessing a page, the browser may generate an error message such as ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID. Here we explain what to do in this case.
If the Chrome browser displays the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID error message, the website visitor should be alerted. Not surprisingly, the following message appears under the red triangle with the exclamation :? The connection is not private? ..
This warning can also appear unexpectedly on well-known and frequently visited websites. There are different reasons that can explain this:
There are different possibilities to recognize the details of the error and to be able to eliminate it efficiently. Here we present the most relevant methods.
It may not sound very effective, but the first thing to try if you get the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID error is to reload the page. On Windows this can be done with the key combination [Ctrl] + [R] (Mac: [Cmd] + [R]) or with the circular arrow found in the browser bar. It may also be useful to completely close the browser and restart it. In addition, it should be checked whether its most current version is being used ..
As a website visitor, you cannot repair a misconfigured redirect on web servers, but you can decide how a page is accessed when the error message ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID appears: try accessing the website with and without? www ? before the domain name.
You can save yourself searching for menus and settings in the browser by getting a list of the commands available for the browser. To do this, insert? About: about? in the address bar and you will get a list of browser commands that you can click on. This feature can be used in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
To check if there is a conflict between the browser extensions and the security certificate of the website you want to access, first update all active extensions. You can access the menu in question by going to (1)>? Settings? >? Extensions? (2) or indicating? About: extensions? in the browser.
To check if these extensions have any incompatibility with the website's security certificate and for this reason the error message ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID is generated, gradually disable the extensions until you can access the desired site without an error message appearing.
Both the browser and the PC store data about security certificates in caches. Obsolete versions of the certificates may be stored there , which later conflict with the current certificate.
There are different options available to clear the browser cache. You can access the corresponding menu through? Settings? >? Privacy and security ?.
You can select the different time intervals to which the removal process applies.
If you use apps and other devices linked through your Google account, please log out of Chrome before the removal process so that the data remains on other devices.
The certificate data is also temporarily stored on the computer. Stale data in the SSL cache can also cause errors. To remove them, enter? Control Panel? in the Windows search bar and click on "Network and Internet".
Your system should establish the Internet connection automatically. Differences in settings may be restricting website visits. To check, enter? Control Panel? in the Windows search bar and click on "Network and Internet". In the dialog menu, select the tab? Connections ?
Clicking on? LAN Settings? (1) an additional dialog window opens in which the box? Automatically detect settings? (2) must be enabled.
The firewalls and antivirus programs are very useful tools to protect the architecture of the computer against external attacks. However, both can block SSL certificates or even overwrite the network settings, thus causing the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID error message to appear. In this case, it is useful to temporarily disable these security features and then check to see if the error message no longer appears in the browser. You can access the firewall through Windows by specifying? Firewall? in the search field. Antivirus software settings are generally found in the help section, although this varies from vendor to vendor.
Website security certificates are issued for limited periods of time and the validity time of the certificate is applied based on the date and time of the user's computer. The computer's clock setting may fail when the (new) PC connects to the Internet for the first time. To adjust the date and time, right-click on the clock that appears in the Windows taskbar and select? Set date and time ?. The Windows settings window will open in which you can check? Set time automatically ?.
The time is then synchronized with that of the network provider's internal clock , which is expected to be correct.
In many parts of the world there are public networks available to users. In most of them it is necessary to register to use them and this registration is not always carried out through a secure connection. As a consequence, sometimes the public network registration page cannot be directly accessed or navigated. Instead, the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID warning appears in the browser. In this case, enter an insecure address in the browser's address bar, eg. ex. http : //hotspot.tld (that is, without s ) and access the page. It should then be possible to access the registration page for this type of public network.
When the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID warning appears, the Chrome browser offers the ability to access the unsafe website anyway. This manual process transfers all data unencrypted .
For this reason, if you decide to access the site, under no circumstances should you indicate access data, payment information or other confidential information . The ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID error message can also mean that there is a deliberate fraud attempt with a hacked or redirected website. You should only visit an unsafe site if you are certain that you can trust that particular provider.
Restarting a computer deletes ? Along with numerous temporary files? also various temporary caches , so in addition to the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID error, other problems are solved (almost) effortlessly. The same applies to restarting the router .
The rest of the possibilities to avoid an error such as ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID should be reserved for web developers, since they could involve more invasive actions on the system. In a company, it is best to contact the systems administrator.
