How often has this happened to you? You are trying to connect to your bank and no matter what you do your password is not accepted or you might get a pop up telling you that
the security certificate has expired. But wait, this is a bank. How can a security certificate not be valid? Well, there are two reasons this could be happening. The first one is that you might have a severe virus on your system.
We are going to talk about the virus scenario first since this one has a major impact on your security. Many virus infections will try to get your information by re-directing you to a page that looks like the real deal but in actuality it is not. The page will often attempt to try and get your log on information by telling you that you need to reset your user name or password.
If you look carefully at the page, you will probably see things that are misspelled on the landing page. This is a good indication you have been hacked. If you suspect this, call your computer tech immediately and have the system cleaned! The problem may be a root kit, which can be very difficult for the average user to remove. These types of infections are dangerous and can be a concern for the potential of identity theft.
Where do you get these types of virus infections? Usually they will either come from an infected e-mail attachment or other times you will get the infection from an infected web site. These types of infections are avoidable if you are careful about your website selections and you do not open e-mail attachments you are not familiar with.
Now that we discussed the worst-case scenario, let us look at another reason that is not at all security related and can be remedied quite easily.
Often times for various reasons your clock on your computer might decide to go back to the future and display 1998 instead of the current year of 2013. Since you often do not even look at the time on your computer, you are likely to not even notice it. The truth is that even if you do not see it, the websites you are visiting do. This will often lead to a scenario where you cannot log in or you get a expired security certificate when you go to a secure website or potentially any web site for that matter.
Security certificates are based on certain dates and if the computer is saying it is 1999, the certificate will complain and say either I am not valid or I am expired. In reality, they are actually just confused. In either case, you may not be able to navigate the web as expected.
You can easily change the time and date on your computer by going to the clock icon in the lower left hand corner of your computer and double clicking on the time. Follow the prompts, depending on your OS, to change the time and date.
If you change the time and date and shut down your computer and remove the power, the time and date should be remembered the next time you use the system. If this is not the case, the small battery on the motherboard is dead and must be replaced. This is quite easy if you are using a desktop computer. You simply open the case and look for a small battery that resembles a watch battery. The most common size used is CR 2032. Simply pop out the old battery and replace it with the new one.
If you own a laptop, things can get more complicated. The batteries, for whatever unknown reason, are usually not easily accessible and you will likely need a technician to take apart the laptop to remove and replace the battery.
Once you have your time issue corrected, you should be good to go. This is a common problem and is often overlooked by the consumer.
In short, the in ability to connect to certain sites successfully is not always a virus scenario. Simply check your clock to be sure you did not unknowingly go back to the future!
Article By, Joe Z
Yes I run into that allot with people telling me that they cannot get into there bank website! Thanks Joe for the great article i am sure people will share and like this .