Expired MEF Certificate

[pdf64]

I finally succumbed and braved the security warnings, it's great to see a few likely suspects here.
Big thanks to Chuck,nosaj and all, and fingers crossed for Tboy's continuing recovery.
Hopefully in the future we can get the forum a bit more resilient

[Chuck H]

I finally succumbed and braved the security warnings, it's great to see a few likely suspects here.
Big thanks to Chuck,nosaj and all, and fingers crossed for Tboy's continuing recovery.
Hopefully in the future we can get the forum a bit more resilient

Thank you, THANK YOU! for dropping in Pete. Resiliancy is the issue here to be certain regarding the forum. There's the bigger issue of Steve's well being for the moment but as this runs longer there are consequences for the forum for sure. The thing is, Steve has asked forum members to carry some of this load in the past and there haven't been any takers. Speaking for myself, I have no internet/web site chops to bring. I honestly couldn't do it. Which is the primary reason I appreciate Steve carrying the baton on all our behalf for so many years. I just don't have time to learn everything about everything I'm involved in and I know nothing about how to facilitate or take care of a web site. And I don't plan to learn it and do it either. Too many irons in the fire already. But I CAN be an advocate for any who do want this task. That's all I've tried to do.

I haven't attempted contact yet since my last report. I've been hopeful to see Steve has visited the site. But that hasn't happened yet. Perhaps I'll ring my contact tomorrow and see what's up. I really don't want to be pushy but I also don't want to be entirely passive.

[glebert]

Thank you, THANK YOU! for dropping in Pete. Resiliancy is the issue here to be certain regarding the forum. There's the bigger issue of Steve's well being for the moment but as this runs longer there are consequences for the forum for sure. The thing is, Steve has asked forum members to carry some of this load in the past and there haven't been any takers. Speaking for myself, I have no internet/web site chops to bring. I honestly couldn't do it. Which is the primary reason I appreciate Steve carrying the baton on all our behalf for so many years. I just don't have time to learn everything about everything I'm involved in and I know nothing about how to facilitate or take care of a web site. And I don't plan to learn it and do it either. Too many irons in the fire already. But I CAN be an advocate for any who do want this task. That's all I've tried to do.

I haven't attempted contact yet since my last report. I've been hopeful to see Steve has visited the site. But that hasn't happened yet. Perhaps I'll ring my contact tomorrow and see what's up. I really don't want to be pushy but I also don't want to be entirely passive.

I think with something like MEF it is really hard to jump in and "support" it when someone else did a bunch of jerry rigging to get/keep it working. The current situation is prime evidence of the risk of that. I think if necessary some of us would have more luck starting a new forum that maybe had access to some of the old data than trying to recreate it in its current form.

[Greg_L]

OMG finally got in!. Hope this lasts.

[Chuck H]

It looks like Chrome is now allowing you to choose a security bypass for this site. I couldn't get in on Chrome before now and have been using an alternate browser that offered the bypass. Unfortunately that's all that changed. No update of the cert at this time.

[pdf64]

Wow, Safari just allowed me in, no warnings, auto logged in, yippee!

[eschertron]

I've been following since the cert went out-of-date, popping in occasionally. Great to hear the T-boy is alive and out (or soon to be out) of the hospital! Prayers and warm feelings for his recovery.

Logging in just now, firefox let me in past the warnings (as before). No change there for me.

[xtian]

No change. Certificate still says, "expired May 28, 2023."

[Chuck H]

Well...

I just spoke with Steve (tboy) on the phone. It's obvious he's not feeling well. He was released from the hospital and is under the care of a family member and probably will be for some time. He's a little upset about the expired cert because he had arranged for automatic renewal. I asked him if there was anything we could do in his absence and if he would be willing to share administrative passwords. He said that he'll need to be at his main frame to correct the matter and that he's not sure HE can remember the password he needs. I asked if he hoped to repair the matter or let it go and he assured me that he intends to return to his post and fix things. But he also said that he won't be home (where the main frame is) for some time. "Some time" is still indeterminate unfortunately. He didn't sound comfortable and I didn't want force accountability about the forum or his health matters that he can't do anything about. He was unable to get on the forum himself from his remote locations in the hospital and now at a family members house. I told him that as of two days ago most browsers were offering a risk option for the security matter and he may be able to now. I'm going to put him in contact with Jason, who is a better choice than me for any technical matters regarding the forum. I said he could call any time with questions. Then I told him there are a lot of people here that care about him. He said "Thank you. That matters." And we said goodbye.

That's all I have for now.

[Tom Phillips]

Well...I just spoke with Steve (tboy) on the phone...

Thank you Chuck for facilitating and passing on this information.

[Pixel]

Having a valid ssl certificate does not make a site safe. AFAIK the expired certificate here is not making this site any less secure. The same encryption is taking place now as before. The certificate has passed its "best before" date but we can keep using it regardless.

Web browsers warn you when an expired certificate is being used because there is some potential that the website using the expired certificate is fake or has been compromised. In the case of this forum the website is real but the ssl certificate has expired.

The security exposures we experience now would have to do with unpatched operating system and forum software.

[nosaj]

Having a valid ssl certificate does not make a site safe. AFAIK the expired certificate here is not making this site any less secure. The same encryption is taking place now as before. The certificate has passed its "best before" date but we can keep using it regardless.

Web browsers warn you when an expired certificate is being used because there is some potential that the website using the expired certificate is fake or has been compromised. In the case of this forum the website is real but the ssl certificate has expired.

The security exposures we experience now would have to do with unpatched operating system and forum software.

The real hit is new users or wary users or users who can't be bothered with an extra step. It IS detrimental to our community.
nosaj

[The Dude]

Well...

I just spoke with Steve (tboy) on the phone. It's obvious he's not feeling well. He was released from the hospital and is under the care of a family member and probably will be for some time. He's a little upset about the expired cert because he had arranged for automatic renewal. I asked him if there was anything we could do in his absence and if he would be willing to share administrative passwords. He said that he'll need to be at his main frame to correct the matter and that he's not sure HE can remember the password he needs. I asked if he hoped to repair the matter or let it go and he assured me that he intends to return to his post and fix things. But he also said that he won't be home (where the main frame is) for some time. "Some time" is still indeterminate unfortunately. He didn't sound comfortable and I didn't want force accountability about the forum or his health matters that he can't do anything about. He was unable to get on the forum himself from his remote locations in the hospital and now at a family members house. I told him that as of two days ago most browsers were offering a risk option for the security matter and he may be able to now. I'm going to put him in contact with Jason, who is a better choice than me for any technical matters regarding the forum. I said he could call any time with questions. Then I told him there are a lot of people here that care about him. He said "Thank you. That matters." And we said goodbye.

That's all I have for now.

Thanks for the update, Chuck. I'm glad you were able to get this info. Of course and as always, Steve's health is of most importance and I'm glad that you were able to relay that we members are concerned primarily about him and not the site. Sending good vibes his way.

[misterc57]

I thought the site was down. Then I started using the following shortcut target to start Chrome.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --ignore-certificate-errors

Only problem is sometimes a system update removes the extension and I have to update the shortcut again.

[Pixel]

I thought the site was down. Then I started using the following shortcut target to start Chrome.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --ignore-certificate-errors

Only problem is sometimes a system update removes the extension and I have to update the shortcut again.

This will work but unfortunately it will ignore all certificate errors. For the time being you can make an informed decision and choose to ignore possible security issues on MEF, but personally I wouldn't want to ignore certificate errors on ALL websites.