Comodo IceDragon

• Comodo IceDragon - Introduction
• System Requirements
• Download And Install Comodo IceDragon
• The Basics
  • Start Comodo IceDragon
  • Set IceDragon As Your Default Browser
  • Set Your Homepage
  • Search The Internet
  • Change Search Options
  • Customize The Toolbar And The Menu
  • Open Recently And Most Visited Websites
  • View Browsing History
  • Set Fonts, Languages And Encoding
  • Configure IceDragon Updates
  • Page Action Menu
  • Portable Version
  • Uninstall IceDragon
• Tabbed Browsing
  • Use Tabs
  • Customize Your New Tab Page
  • Tab Settings
• Bookmarks
  • Create Bookmarks
  • Find And Edit Bookmarks
  • Manage Bookmarks
  • Bookmarks - Import, Export And Back Up
• Privacy And Security
  • Private Browsing
  • Delete Browsing History And Configure History Settings
  • Allow/Block Pop-up Windows
  • Manage Cookies And Site Data
  • Block Websites From Tracking Your Browsing Activities
  • View And Manage Permission Settings
  • Configure Suggestions When Entering A Website Address
  • Manage Cache
  • Manage Add-on Permissions
  • Manage Passwords
  • TLS/SSL Certificates And Secure Connections
  • Manage SSL Certificates And HTTPS Security
    • View And Manage Certificates
      • Your Certificates
      • People
      • Server Certificates
      • Authorities
    • Configure Security Modules That Store Certificates And Passwords
  • Force Secure Connections
  • Website Security Indicators
  • Disable Accessibility Indicator
  • Configure IceDragon Performance And Browsing Settings
  • Network Proxy Settings
• Downloads
  • Download A File
  • Change Download Location
  • View Download History
  • Clear Download History
• Introduction To Add-ons
  • Download, Install And Configure Add-ons
    • Install Add-ons From Local Storage
    • Configure Updates To Add-ons
  • Manage Extensions
  • Customize The Appearance Of IceDragon
  • Manage Plugins
• Tools And Other Features
  • Customize Applications For Opening Different File Types
  • Search Within Page Content
  • Form Autofill
  • Keyboard And Mouse Shortcuts For Comodo IceDragon
    • Mouse Shortcuts
    • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Manage IceDragon In Safe Mode
  • Set Up Comodo IceDragon Sync Information
  • View Digital Rights Management
  • Improve IceDragon Performance Settings
  • Comodo Online Security Extension
  • View Task Manager
• Web Developer Tools
  • Open The Tools Console
  • Inspect Page Elements
  • Use The Web Console
  • Remove Inconsistencies With HTML, CSS And Javascript
  • View And Run Style Sheets On A Web-page
  • Improve Web Page/Web Application Performance
  • Memory Tool
  • Network Monitoring
  • Storage
  • Accessibility
  • Use The Developer Toolbar
  • Use The WebIDE
  • Browser Toolbox And Browser Content Toolbox
  • Browser Console
  • Responsive Design Mode
  • Eyedropper
  • Run Experimental Java Scripts On Page
  • View Page Source
  • Service Workers
  • Connect Remote Device
  • Add More Web Development Tools
  • Work Offline
• Troubleshooting
  • Error Your Connection Is Not Secure
• Report A Bug

TLS/SSL Certificates and Secure Connections

• Whenever you make a secure connection to a website, the beginning of the URL will change from HTTP to HTTPS (with the ‘S’ standing for secure).

• A padlock will also appear at the left of the address. This indicates that the page is using a TLS/SSL certificate to encrypt all communications between you and the site.

• However, not every type of certificate should be trusted to the same degree.

There are three main types of certificate:

• Domain Validated (DV)

• Organization Validated (OV)

• Extended Validation (EV)
  

Domain Validated(DV) - These certificates have the lowest cost but do not identify owner of the website. DV certs are issued after the applicant has proven they control the domain for which the certificate is intended. Applicants can validate domain control using fast, online methods, such as responding to a challenge-response email. EV and OV similarly require domain control validation, but also require the applicant to supply business documentation to confirm their identity.

Organization Validation (OV) – These certificates include full business and company validation from a certificate authority using currently established and accepted manual vetting processes. Because of this requirement, these certificates provide significantly higher levels of trust and security than DV SSL certificates but are not validated to the stringent standards set by the CA/B forum and do not possess the ability to turn the address bar green in the latest browsers.

Extended Validation (EV) - EV certificates are validated to the strong guidelines set by the CA/B Forum, an independent standards body consisting of major browser providers and certificate authorities. EV certificates are only issued after in-depth background checks have been carried out on the applicant company. Because of this, EV certificates provide the highest levels of security and trust to end-users. To reflect this higher level of trust, IceDragon shows a green indicator if a site has an EV certificate. The indicator contains the name and address of the company that owns the website, and the name of the CA who issued the certificate.

Trust between a person using a browser and the site they are visiting is only confirmed when two stages of validation are complete:

1. Verification that the certificate applicant owns the domain name of the website.

2. Verification that the certificate applicant is a legitimate and legally accountable business.

Step 2) is carried out by a Certificate Authority (CA) such as Comodo or Symantec. A CA employs human operatives to carry out strict vetting of the applicant’s business and legal standing. Only once this layer of company validation has been completed can a website be truly ‘trusted’.

Users can tell an EV certificate because the name of the company that owns the site is shown in green text next to the URL. You can also click the lock to view complete details. The following screenshot shows the certificate on instantssl.com, which is operated by Comodo.