Google Sets to Prevent Entrust Certificates in Chrome Beginning November 2024

June 29, 2024NewsroomCybersecurity / Website Security

Google has revealed its plan to block websites that utilize certificates from Entrust starting approximately on November 1, 2024, in the Chrome browser, citing non-compliance and the certificate authority’s failure to address security issues promptly.

“During recent years, publicly disclosed incident reports have brought to light a series of worrying patterns manifested by Entrust that do not meet the expectations. This has led to a decline in trust in their competency, reliability, and integrity as a publicly-relied upon [certificate authority] owner,” stated Google’s Chrome security team in a post.

In this regard, the technology giant mentioned its decision to no longer trust TLS server authentication certificates from Entrust as the default setting in Chrome versions 127 and onwards. Nevertheless, Chrome users and business clients will have the option to override these settings as desired.

Additionally, Google emphasized the crucial role that certificate authorities play in facilitating secure connections between browsers and websites. It stated that Entrust’s lack of improvement regarding publicly disclosed incident reports and unmet enhancement commitments introduces risks to the internet ecosystem.

The action to block Entrust certificates is expected to affect the Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Android, and Linux versions of the browser. An exception is Chrome for iOS and iPadOS, given Apple’s restrictions that disallow the use of the Chrome Root Store.

Consequently, users attempting to access a site that presents a certificate issued by Entrust or AffirmTrust will encounter an interstitial warning indicating that the connection is insecure and not private.

Website operators affected by this change are strongly advised to transition to a publicly-relied certificate authority before October 31, 2024, to mitigate disruptions. Notably, Entrust’s solutions are utilized by prominent entities such as Microsoft, Mastercard, VISA, and VMware, among others.

“Although website operators could prolong the impact of the blocking by opting to obtain and install a new TLS certificate issued by Entrust before the enforcement of Chrome’s restriction on November 1, 2024, ultimately they will need to acquire and implement a new TLS certificate from one of the numerous other CAs included in the Chrome Root Store,” noted Google.