Re: [Galeon/Epiphany certificate alerts]

Hi,

> I think if you choose a technically profficient user, the dialogues as worded
> are pretty reasonable. If you want to appeal to an intermediate level user (a
> pretty good target) these dialogs are an order of magnitude too complicated.
> The whole idea of a "certificate" as worded is too much, let alone these
> complex error-conditions in the handling of certificates. If you want to
> appeal to this user you must be prepared to violate your integrity and present
> a less accurate but simpler form of the information.

They are, of course, aimed at the average user. The problem with these
dialogs is that they are the weakest link in the SSL handshake. If they
don't get across the seriousness of the error, then the user could
connect to an untrusted site and have their bank details stolen, for
example. Removing the word "certificate" from the text is probably a
good idea, although I strongly believe that the "View Certificate"
button must remain.

To get the discussion going about how to improve the text, what about
the following: 

Dialog 1:

"Accept incorrect security information?"   

The site "ftp.openssl.org" returned security information for
"www.openssl.org". It is possible that someone is intercepting 
your communication to obtain your confidential information.

"You should only accept the security information if you trust
"ftp.openssl.org".

[ View Certificate ] [ Cancel ] [ Accept ]

Dialog 2:

I have not found anyway to get dialog to appear. It is extremely
unlikely that a user will ever see it without having had to set up CRL's
(in which case they will know about them), or their sysadmin will have
set them up (in which case he will know about them). I think this dialog
is effective at getting its message across. If it were seen then the
text would be:

"Cannot establish connection to "www.microsoft.com"

"The certificate revocation list (CRL) from "ssl.verisign.net" needs to
be updated."

"Please ask your system administrator for assistance."

[ OK ]


Dialog 3:

"Accept expired security information?"

"The security information for "www.openssl.org" expired on Thu Aug 2
2003."

"You should ensure that your computer's time is correct"

[ View Certificate ] [ Cancel ] [ Accept ]



Dialog 4:

"Connect to untrusted site?"

"Your browser was unable to trust "www.openssl.org. It is possible that
someone is intercepting your communication to obtain your confidential
information."

"You should only connect to the site if you certain you are connected to
"www.openssl.org"

 [ ] Don't show this message again for this site

[ View Certificate ] [ Cancel ] [ Connect ]


If do appreciate the time spent looking at these dialogs, once they are
right, hopefully we won't need to worry about them any more.

Crispin