DigitMemo.com

Avoid the annoying prompt permanently.

Internet Explorer 7(IE7) is intended to defend users from phishing as well as deceptive or malicious software, and it also features full user control of ActiveX and better security framework. It put more restrict control over SSL certificate, and completely blocks any site with a self-signed certificate.

A self-signed certificate is an identity certificate that is signed by its own creator. That is, the person that created the certificate also signed off on its legitimacy. This is considered unsafe as anyone can make the certificate and highly likely a phishing site. So avoid these sites if you are about to put your personal identity or finical info. on it.

However, some sites might use SSL(https) for security purpose and they can’t afford the cost for a “genuine” SSL certificate, for example, the site below, clamav.net, is for an opensource anti-virus program. The prompt is definitely annoying and unnecessary.

Install the cert under Windows XP with IE7

1. Click “Continue to this website” as show in the screenshot above.

2. Install certificate by following the instructions

make sure to put the cert under “Trusted Root Certification Authorities”

3. Confirm the security warning when asked.

This will clear the annoyance for future visits

Install the cert Under Windows Vista

Microsoft armors Vista with a even more restricted security control, and there is no “Install Certificate” button at all. This can be easily work around by turning off the protected mode from Internet Options. And all the rest is the same as Windows XP. Don’t forget to turn it on after the installation!

Sometimes, the installation goes through but the prompt is still there, most likely, this is caused by the wrong certificate from the server side(they should really learn how to make a CORRECT self-signed cert), if you can’t get it fixed, using Firefox might be a better choice.