Security certificates for all my browsers

Would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates also work for my non-
Microsoft browsers?

I don't know exactly how certificates work except that there is some
hierarchy of trusted certificate providers.

As I understand it sometimes there are oversights in checking in which
certificate providers got authorized, so updates have to be downloaded by
PCs to let the PC know the latest list of trusted certificates.

I run XP and Microsoft's updater provides me with updates to security
certificates.

My question is ....... would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates
also work for my non-Microsoft browsers?

I run Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Do I need to do update their certificates
individually or would the Microsoft update also be used by them?

From: "kathy" <nospam@mail.invalid>

> Would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates also work for my non-
> Microsoft browsers?
>
> I don't know exactly how certificates work except that there is some
> hierarchy of trusted certificate providers.
>
> As I understand it sometimes there are oversights in checking in which
> certificate providers got authorized, so updates have to be downloaded by
> PCs to let the PC know the latest list of trusted certificates.
>
> I run XP and Microsoft's updater provides me with updates to security
> certificates.
>
> My question is ....... would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates
> also work for my non-Microsoft browsers?
>
> I run Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Do I need to do update their certificates
> individually or would the Microsoft update also be used by them?

Is this in reference to DigiCert Sdn. Bhd issuing certificates with weak encryption keys?
If it is Mozilla and Google have release updates.

I don't know about the rest of the Browsers and if they use the Microsoft Certifcate Store
where Microsft released an update.

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

kathy wrote:

> Would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates also work for my non-
> Microsoft browsers?
>
> I don't know exactly how certificates work except that there is some
> hierarchy of trusted certificate providers.
>
> As I understand it sometimes there are oversights in checking in which
> certificate providers got authorized, so updates have to be downloaded by
> PCs to let the PC know the latest list of trusted certificates.
>
> I run XP and Microsoft's updater provides me with updates to security
> certificates.
>
> My question is ....... would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates
> also work for my non-Microsoft browsers?
>
> I run Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Do I need to do update their certificates
> individually or would the Microsoft update also be used by them?

What Microsoft updates did you get that have certificates for PCs?
Certificates are for sites, not for hosts and not for any particular web
browser. Are you running a web server where you need a certificate (if
you're using authenticated logins or using SSL connects to your web
server)?

Since you don't know what they are, you don't need them.

kathy <nospam@mail.invalid> writes:
>I run XP and Microsoft's updater provides me with updates to security
>certificates.

>My question is ....... would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates
>also work for my non-Microsoft browsers?

>I run Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Do I need to do update their certificates
>individually or would the Microsoft update also be used by them?

It depends on the browser and version, but generally not.

A few alternative browsers did use the Microsoft CryptoAPI at some
point in time, but most (if not all?) now use their own security
certificate database, and would need to be patched separately.

I wouldn't trust any of them to have updated along Microsoft's patch,
and you'll need separate patches for each.

In article <j9jp6v$4ua$1@news.albasani.net>, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
wrote:

> kathy wrote:
>
> > Would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates also work for my non-
> > Microsoft browsers?
> >
> > I don't know exactly how certificates work except that there is some
> > hierarchy of trusted certificate providers.
> >
> > As I understand it sometimes there are oversights in checking in which
> > certificate providers got authorized, so updates have to be downloaded by
> > PCs to let the PC know the latest list of trusted certificates.
> >
> > I run XP and Microsoft's updater provides me with updates to security
> > certificates.
> >
> > My question is ....... would Microsoft's updates to a PC's certificates
> > also work for my non-Microsoft browsers?
> >
> > I run Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Do I need to do update their certificates
> > individually or would the Microsoft update also be used by them?
>
> What Microsoft updates did you get that have certificates for PCs?
> Certificates are for sites, not for hosts and not for any particular web
> browser. Are you running a web server where you need a certificate (if
> you're using authenticated logins or using SSL connects to your web
> server)?
>
> Since you don't know what they are, you don't need them.

I think he's talking about the Certificate Revocation List that
Microsoft updated earlier this week.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...visory/2641690

--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***