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Root Certificate Warning May Rattle Consumers (12/10/99, 6:07 p.m. ET) By Mo Krochmal, TechWeb

The certificates of identification that are embedded in some Internet browsers are set to expire on Dec. 31, 1999, and may add another wrinkle to computer problems on New Year's day.

Internet users are already encountering the problem in surfing to certain websites with Netscape browsers. Vistors to sites will see a page come up that warns that a certificate has expired.

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The problem is limited to browsers that don't contain new root certificates. These certificates, produced by AT&T, CyberTrust, and VeriSign, were first issued in 1995 with five-year expiration dates -- Dec. 31, 1999. New certificates are issued with 10-year expiration dates.

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Certificate expiration does not affect the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser as it does not check for an expiration date, Howe said.

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Netscape browsers prior to Communicator version 4.06 are affected. The problem can be avoided by using new browser software.

-- Kings Kid (beprepared@y2k.net), December 13, 1999


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