One of the common issues in Mozilla Firefox is “Secure Connection Failed” error. This error can be fixed relatively easily so we hope that this brief troubleshooting guide will help.
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Solutions to “Secure Connection Failed” error message in Mozilla Firefox
Secure Connection Failed error usually occurs when trying to access a secure website. Secure sites starts with https in its URL. If you happen to encounter this error when, say, trying to open your bank website, follow our brief guide below on how to address it.
Solution #1: Verify if security software causes “Secure Connection Failed” error
All decent security software (antivirus) have one important feature called SSL filtering or SSL scanning that interrogates a website first before allowing your browser to eventually open it. SSL filtering is one of the mechanisms your computer may have to protect you from malicious websites. The thing is, SSL filtering or scanning can sometimes lead to “false positives.” For example, if not properly configured, your antivirus SSL filter may kick in even if you’re visiting a legitimate banking site. In this case, SSL filtering can become more of an annoyance everytime you open a safe site. This is why the error sometimes occur. If your security software’s SSL filtering is hyperactive, you can try to disable it temporarily and see if Firefox will be able to access the site.
Turning off SSL filtering or scanning varies by product so exact steps depends on your security software. Contact your antivirus documentation or customer support for directions. Make sure to turn this feature back on once you’re done with your troubleshooting.
Solution #2: Firefox helps in securing your connection
Everytime you try to visit a website and if that site tries to establish a secure communication to your computer, Firefox browser makes sure that the website certificate together with other security markers are met.
Some websites may use older TLS version (not secure) to try to secure your connection. In order to protect users, Firefox tries to prevent you from visiting such websites, hence the Secure Connection Failed error. If you frequently visit this website, you can contact the owner of the site or its administrator to ask them to update their TLS version to the latest, secure one.
Solution #3: Change Firefox SSL setting
As part of its security protection package, Firefox uses certificates when you visit secure sites to ensure that your data is encrypted and no third parties can read your communication. If you are absolutely positive that the site you’re trying to access is safe, you can change Firefox setting to lower its security. Here’s how to do it:
- Open Firefox browser.
- Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter key on your keyboard.
- Once the This might void your warranty! screen opens, click on I accept the risk button.
- Type in security.ssl.enable_ocsp_stapling on the search bar of the open page.
- Double-click on security.ssl.enable_ocsp_stapling result to set its Value to be false.
- Go back to page you’re trying to open and see if it’s working now.
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