Browsing With Google Chrome

When browsing with Chrome browser, Edge, or Firefox and you intend to visit a site, you may notice one of the following pop-up messages.

If you are not using a private connection, there is a high likelihood that you are browsing the web without the necessary privacy controls. This means that you are vulnerable to cybercriminals who are constantly in the habit of trying to steal your data.

The pop-up message often appears in one of these formats: The message can suddenly appear on your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone, iOS or Android devices and operating systems, such as Windows (Windows XP or Windows Vista) when trying to access a page on the chrome browser.

These pop-up messages often come off as borderline annoying, but have you considered what these messages mean and what you can do about them? Continue along with this thought as we discuss what you need to know in its entirety.

What Does It Mean?

If the pop-up message is an error message that suggests your connection is not private or secure as in some cases may be, more often than not, it might have a direct link with your SSL certificate, take for example:

• The SSL certificate may have expired
• An issue has suddenly arisen with your SSL certificate

If you are sure of your SSL certificate authenticity, you need to consider the worst-case possible, which is that the site you intend to visit might have been hacked.

Most people often fall victims to these preying cybercriminals as they would try to get valuable information from you, such as passwords or credit card details.

Lucky for you, your default browser has security features in place to prevent you from accessing such web pages. The pop-up message would most likely read ‘This connection is not private' using an English browser.

What Is the SSL Certificate?

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is a quality mark that aims to point out if the webpage you are about to access uses encrypted communication when communicating with the browser, for example, Google Chrome, Edge, or Safari.

You can automatically check the authenticity of sites you are skeptical about with an SSL certificate.

Below are steps to take in authenticating the SSL certificate of sites:

• If you seek to browse, download or have easy access to websites without encrypted communication, you will get the warning message from your browser that your connection is not private.
• Websites with a perfectly working and valid SSL certificate have an HTTPS connection instead of an HTTP connection in their address bar.

This can easily be given away by merely looking at the lock in the URL search bar of your browser. If you need to visit such web pages, you should consider using a VPN, as your connection is encrypted even without an SSL certificate.

5 Solutions to the Error Message on Your Browser

The error message displayed on your internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Chrome Canary does not appear without a cause.

It often arises due to issues plaguing the site, even though your default internet browser often resolves the issue.

But if the error message still occurs and you need to access the site still, then consider these five solutions below:

1. Delete Your Chrome Browser Data and Refresh or Open a New Tab Page

The error message might be because your browser is loading an old or previously saved page in the browsing history. You need to clear your browsing history, caches, and cookies to access the site.

This can be done on Google Chrome by following the under-listed steps:

1. Click on the three dots at the top right corner of the webpage
2. Select settings
3. Left-click on ‘Privacy & security
4. Click on clear browser data
5. Select the desired period
6. Then click on ‘Clear data.’

2. Visit the Website in Private Mode

Another solution you should consider is opening the site on an entirely different browser or switching to private mode or incognito new tab.

Opening an incognito new tab or sudden switch to private mode temporarily disables the installed browser extensions. It searches the webpage on the title bar built-in browser extensions prompt the error message.

You can open an incognito new tab by selecting ‘new incognito tab’ or ‘new private tab’. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + N (Chrome, Edge, and Safari) or Ctrl + Shift + P (Mozilla) respectively when browsing. If the site does not still open, extensions are causing the problem.

3. Visit the Website Using a Different Browser Other than the Chrome Browser

Another solution you should consider in working around the error message is to open the website using a different browser other than chrome browser.

There could be a possibility that the error message is occurring due to your current browser's inability to recognize the SSL certificate. Updating your current chrome OS to another browser operating system might also work.

4. Please Use a Different Internet Connection When Browsing with Google Chrome

Another way of getting around the sudden pop-up error message is to try connecting to another network that supports browsing or downloads, such as the 4G network through your phone.

It might likely be that your network administrator or internet service provider might be intentionally blocking your connection to the webpage. If you have tried the webpage on other devices with other networks and the message still appears, there is another reason for the error message.

5. Use the ‘this is unsafe’ Feature on the Chrome Browser

Choosing to use ‘this is unsafe’ to type on your keyboard allows the error message ‘your connection is not private to be visibly seen, and you can bypass it immediately on the chrome browser.

This option should only be considered if you are certain that the webpage you intend to search for via the title bar or link does not leave you or your computer vulnerable.

You should know that this option is only possible when using the Google Chrome browser, as it lets you bypass it, and the webpage opens automatically.