Mozilla has announced that it will work with Google, Microsoft and Apple to help protect the privacy of Internet users in Kazakhstan.
The nation’s internet service providers (ISPs) recently informed their customers that they would need to install a government-issued root certificate on all their devices in order to continue operating. accessing internet services.
However, when a user submits the certificate, they choose to trust a Certificate Authority (CA) that will allow the government to capture and decrypt network communications sent from their web browser. encryption.
If this sounds familiar because ISPs in Kazakhstan tried the same thing last year and at the time, the Firefox maker said the move goes against Principle 4 of the Mozilla Manifesto which states: “The security and privacy of individuals on the Internet is fundamental. and may not be treated as an option “.
Blocking Kazakhstan root certificate
To protect the privacy of Internet users in Kazakhstan, Mozilla, Apple, Google and Microsoft have all agreed to ban the use of government CA certification in their browsers.
This means that Firefox will not trust the certificate even if a user has installed it on their devices. When trying to access a website that matches the certificate, Firefox users will now see an error message saying that the certificate should not be trusted.
In a new blog post outlining its certificate policy, Mozilla urged users in Kazakhstan to look into VPN services or the Tor Browser to access the web without restrictions.
The company was also urging users who have submitted a government root certificate to remove it from their devices and change the passwords to their online accounts immediately. This can be easily done using Firefox’s built-in password manager.