SSL Certificate - Why is "Verified by: Not specified" ?

[#1]

If I look at the SSL certificate info for this forum, Firefox tells me -

So why is there no ownership information, and why is the "Verified by:" unspecified ?

[#2]

Mine says "Verified by: DigiCert Inc" and says the same "does not supply ownership information".

IIRC you're using a http caching proxy, perhaps the "verified by" difference is related to how that handles https connections.

[#3]

That was a great bit of lateral thinking, regarding my caching proxy, 

but other websites are displaying correct SSL information,

for example PayPal says -

[#4]

Using Chrome , this site has the following data

CN = secure09.lithium.com
OU = TechOps
O = Lithium Technologies, Inc.
L = San Francisco
S = California
C = US

Paypal has the following

CN = www.paypal.com
OU = CDN Support
O = PayPal, Inc.
STREET = 2211 N 1st St
L = San Jose
S = California
PostalCode = 95131-2021
C = US
SERIALNUMBER = 3014267
2.5.4.15 = Private Organization
1.3.6.1.4.1.311.60.2.1.2 = Delaware
1.3.6.1.4.1.311.60.2.1.3 = US

[#5]

I think the lack of ownership information is a separate issue to the "Verified by: Not specified".

I suppose you get the same issue with https://community.bt.com ? I get the same "Verified by: DigiCert Inc".

[#6]

Nope,  on the page https://community.bt.com/,  I get -

[#7]

That's strange, they are both run by Lithium. What about something else that is secure09.lithium.com like community.plus.net, such as https://community.box.com (taken from the Certificate Subject Alt Name list)?

[#8]

https://community.box.com/  gives me -

[#9]

The Box.com is the same SSL cert that this site uses. 

This appears in the "Alternative Subject Name" for the community.box.com 

DNS Name=secure09.lithium.com
DNS Name=community.upwork.com
DNS Name=community.brooksrunning.com
DNS Name=community.its.rmit.edu.au
DNS Name=community-beta.tealiumiq.com
DNS Name=community.upc-cablecom.ch
DNS Name=www.weingenuss.club
DNS Name=community.hexagongeospatial.com
DNS Name=community.qvc.com
DNS Name=www.workshop.com.au
DNS Name=smsfcommunity.ampcapital.com.au
DNS Name=community.powerbi.com
DNS Name=forum.bankwest.com.au
DNS Name=community.carfax.com
DNS Name=community.dna.hrblock.com
DNS Name=www.toughtalk.isuzuutes.co.nz
DNS Name=communities.sas.com
DNS Name=community.realtor.com
DNS Name=community.ig.com
DNS Name=community.steelbrick.com
DNS Name=community.box.com
DNS Name=www.toughtorque.isuzuutes.co.nz
DNS Name=connector.cisco.com
DNS Name=business.telstra.com.au
DNS Name=www.averacommunityviewpoints.org
DNS Name=tdi-innovationpanel.com
DNS Name=community.hortonworks.com
DNS Name=www.tdi-innovationpanel.com
DNS Name=community.alteryx.com
DNS Name=live.paloaltonetworks.com
DNS Name=www.toughnut.isuzuutes.co.nz
DNS Name=spolecznosc.ingbank.pl
DNS Name=community.relayhealth.com
DNS Name=de.passionforwine.com
DNS Name=community.infoblox.com
DNS Name=instructors.hortonworks.com
DNS Name=community.tealiumiq.com
DNS Name=community.telkom.co.za
DNS Name=www.worldguide.eu
DNS Name=community.xxxlutz.at
DNS Name=wissen.comdirect.de
DNS Name=community.smart-wohnen.de
DNS Name=community.decathlon.co.uk
DNS Name=trustedtester.fiber-community.com
DNS Name=ingage.cable.comcast.com
DNS Name=community.parrot.com
DNS Name=usaa.lithium.com
DNS Name=www.pcplusvippanel.ca
DNS Name=www.snusarena.se
DNS Name=community.weebly.com
DNS Name=community.nextbit.com
DNS Name=community.jawwy.sa
DNS Name=community.phishme.com
DNS Name=community.zuora.com
DNS Name=community.mywit.com
DNS Name=pojok.axisnet.id
DNS Name=comunidad.movistar.es
DNS Name=community.myzap.com
DNS Name=community.aib.ie
DNS Name=community.logrhythm.com
DNS Name=community.microstrategy.com
DNS Name=autotechline.honda.com
DNS Name=communaute.red-by-sfr.fr
DNS Name=community.plus.net
DNS Name=us.community.samsung.com
DNS Name=community.hdfcergo.com
DNS Name=community.powerapps.com
DNS Name=www.cunamutualconnect.com
DNS Name=www.sellercommunity.com
DNS Name=www.dtecustomervision.com
DNS Name=powerusers.microsoft.com

[#10]

As a slight off topic observation, that https://community.box.com/ is MUCH faster loading than this very similar Plusnet forum.

I'm getting 3 to 4 second page loading times for box.com, but 8 to 12 seconds here. 

[#11]

Did you store a certificate from the old community.plus.net, perhaps to bypass some certificate warning on the old site (although I didn't think that was ever necessary)?

[#12]

---

@SpendLessTime wrote:

Using Chrome , this site has the following data

CN = secure09.lithium.com
OU = TechOps
O = Lithium Technologies, Inc.
L = San Francisco
S = California
C = US

---

Off topic:

@PlusnetLiam & @LouisaMartin,

So Lithium is not a UK (or EU) company storing our data within the UK / EU?

Is lithium compliant with http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/data-protection-dpa-and-eu-data-protection-regulation.aspx ?

Are your legal boys doing something useful and ensuring that they do (will) meet these requirements to protect our personal data?  As noted elsewhere, there have been too many apparent losses of personal data by PlusNet's third party partners over recent years.  I'm not entirely happy that this service is outwith PlusNet, I'm even less happy that its in the USA.

[#13]

---

@ejs wrote:

Did you store a certificate from the old community.plus.net, perhaps to bypass some certificate warning on the old site (although I didn't think that was ever necessary)?

---

I never store SSL certificates, or EVER proceed onto sites where Firefox shows a certificate warning.

I have just gone through all the related settings within Firefox and can't find any non-default or stored certificates.  I have also gone though every preference and deleted anything with references to Plusnet, and have flushed all history, cache, cookies, etc.

I have also flushed my caching proxy, and checked the router's "Certificate Authority Manager" for unexpected entries.

I'm still seeing the same result as is shown in my original post.

I'm not sure what else I can do to force a refresh of the SSL certificate on this page (to match the output from the apparently identical box.com certificate).

It is not causing me to have any problems, but it is just annoying to have a repeatable anomaly which is unexplained.

[#14]

@Townman, our community cluster is hosted in Ireland I believe.

[#15]

Staying OT: @bobpullen,

If that is correct, then that's great news.  However if it is correct why does the certificate detail suggest that the service is in the USA?

Should not the certificate indicate that the service is in Ireland?