Safari can't verify the identity of the website

Ok. I tried every possible solution mentioned in this thread over the past year (and some extras). Keychain deletions, automatic date, and some of the more complicated solutions. I even, as suggested by one poster, wondered if it was my router or IP address. Although sometimes I would think a solution had worked, it was only a cruel tease, because eventually the "cannot verify" warning would come back.

Nothing worked. I became convinced that this is a SAFARI PROGRAM ISSUE AND OPERATING SYSTEM GLITCH that Apple has absoutely failed to correct.

So, what finally corrected this issue? I bought a new Macbook in February of this year (for reasons not related to this). I now have an operating system of 10.7.4. No need to set or unset automatic date, no messing with the keychains, no nothing, I never have this warning. Clearly, my new Macbook's operating system runs Safari without glitches. And so no - it was NOT my router, my internet provider, anything external to my Macbook, or anything I could control.

Pretty expensive solution if you ask me.

I recently experienced the same issue regarding getting the message "Safari can't verify the identity of the website" I started by reseting Safari. This alone did not work. What worked for me was going into:

Safari - Preferences - Privacy - Cookies and Other Website Data (here I found 80 websites that were storing data that was not deleted by resetting Safari) I clicked on details and selected "Remove all" This is what did the trick for me. 😀

I hope you find this information helpful.

Some people are seeing the problem fix itself, I have not been so lucky and I really would hate to lose all my passwords and other information by resetting and deleting everything. I have not been successful with any other fix though (I tried repairing Keychain, changing the clock, removing certificates). I hope someone is looking into what looks more and more like a security problem with Safari.

I was also experiencing the same issue, and an upgrade to Mountain Lion did not resolve the problem. I did go into the date & time preferences, and selected the "automatically..." box, and the issue resolved. Unfortunately, the automatic time setting is actually off by an hour.

Surely there is a better solution for the long term. But, at least I can get on with my work. I posted to perhaps add attention to the issue, and to confirm for others this will at least offer a potential immediate solution.

Strangly, I have just begun to receive these pop-ups today. Just when I also keep getting scam pop-ups from "AOL" wanting me to provide billing info on Firefox.

I dont think it's a conincidence. My date and time are fine and I cant think of any other reason for it.

I think it's time for a very aggressive anit-virus, anti-worm softare.

As one of the posters indicated, it is a virus or worm, or malware.

What if the date and time box is clicked and the message "Safari can't verfy the identity of the website" continues to come up..it only happens when I am trying to search using google, bing etc..all other websites seem to be fine.

Hello,

I am having the same issue as everybody here. "Safari can't verify the identity of the website "platform.twitter.com," I have also received the same verification error with a facebook site. The sites that I get it most is with gmail.com and google.com. I have done everything in all of these posts, with no luck. I have used my MacBook Pro elsewhere and the error hasn't popped up. It only happens when I am on my home network. Everybody that uses my network gets the error via MacBook's, iPhone's, iPad's ... When I use my home network is the only time I get the error. Hence, I believe that the error has something to do with my router, network, etc. Any ideas ... ?

Hey... I think you're the first person who is on to something here. If you don't mind, can I ask you're internet provider? I have Cox and have been seriously considering getting rid of it anyway. My sister did as she found that when receiving phone calls her internet was interrupted - especially when trying to use call waiting. Also, I think Cox deceives you into believing you might get 25mbs uploads - but when doing the speed tests online while talking to a Cox rep I never got much over 10. I'm not here to try to dismiss one carrier over another - I just want to figure out what is happening. I too have tried pretty much every suggestion here and most of the time they might work - but only temporarily. I have found that not only on my Mac - but on all of our networked tech - you have to disconnect temporarily or restart (which *****) - to get to the website that it said prior to that it was "invalid" or some other warning. I don't know why Apple hasn't done anything to fix this. I can't load my local newspaper website without a warning about Facebook and Twitter.

So? Anyone else have some commentary here - oh - and please make it useful this time. None of us need any smart alec comments on our tech info or ability. Consider that the average user is not posting here when commenting. Most of us are fairly well informed and knowledgeable - and have probably tried all the easy methods to fix this.

Did just getting a new Mac actually stop all the internet nonsense? I updated everthing and hoped it would work, but I would have to talk my husband into a new Mac - and I don't see that happening soon, lol!

I have been busing Comcast for about 12 years now, never had a issue with them. Since, the error only appears when I am on my private network, then it must be some malicious script somewhere. I have a external hard drive hooked to my router, where I keep movies, music, pictures and backups. If I turn the WiFi off on my iPad or iPhone, then I never get the error, its only while I use my network.

Hi, I had the same problem and didn't want to continue putting information at risk. I had the right time and date also, but i knoticed a box that said Set date and time automatically so I clicked/checked on it. I think that worked because i didn't get that alarming message going into my tmobile site or my bank account. Hope this helps. 🙂

I have been getting the same error, only in Safari, only when on the school network where I work. I have NO issues at home (ATT uVerse). None of the keychain, date, or plist suggestions fixed it.

My solution: Firefox or Chrome = no issues.

SOLUTION:

Open terminal:

sudo bash

<put in your login password> (this will give your root access)

cd /Library/

mv Keychains Keychains.bad

REBOOT THE MACHINE. The system will then rebuild the required keychains and certs. From there on, you will manually have to provide passwords to each site you log into. (BTW, if the system tells you that rename is not allowed, quit all programs that may be using the Keychains. Being root, shouldn't stop you from completing the rename though.)

It's probably malware. Happened to my Air after a few months of use, tweaking the system, and allowing non-signed apps to run. I also ran in developer mode (less secure). Something got a hold of the Keychains and conveniently broke them (to the attacker's advantage). When I got my Mavericks, I did a backup and a clean install. All was fine. I then had to restore some files off the backup (Time Machine, which is limited in use in the first place). Since I used the same login, it asked me to rename the user. Which I did. But, I did not expect it to overwrite my sytem files, nothing to say about Keychains and iCloud. After the restore, I logged into my Mavericks account, and of course, ANY Internet access was met by a certificate error. Even Kaspersky couldn't connect and download the latest virus definitions. The AppStore couldn't connect either. Chrome, Safari, FireFox - all the same cert issues.

I followed the above procedure and it resolved the problem. I am now rebuilding the Keychains site by site. I changed my iCloud password just in case.

Hope this solves your issue. Remember, you will lose ALL saved Internet passwords. But you'll have a piece of mind that it's now clean and working. Watch out for any programs you are launching that don't have a CODE signed cert (Mavericks usually will tell you that and prevent launching the program. There are several ways to bypass this, the easiest being right-clicking on the program and selecting OPEN. But you are dealing with programs that are usually either open source (and are too cheap to buy a code-signing cert) or they're malware.

You may also want to rename the klif.kext - I have not searched what uses that, but Mavericks told me that it's from an unidentified developer. I went to /System/Library/Extensions/ and renamed klif.kext to klif.kext.bad_do_not_use and rebooted.

Good luck.

Hey,

I am still getting the same errors. I just wanted to add that it happens with ALL devices connected to my home network, ex. iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs. So I am assuming that it is something on the network, router. Since it happens with everyone that connects to it. I also have an external hard drive attached to the router via ethernet. I am not 100% sure that it is related but seems to me like there is a connection.

btw ... still getting all those crazy messages ...

Coud be Cesar. A malware program spread through all of your Apple devices and perhaps, using your saved passwords to your WiFi or router in a shared keychain, did some bad joojoo there. But I don't think it is hardware related. Do you own any smart devices other than Apple to prove the hardware theory? A Win PC or a smart TV? If those don't show any signs of this problem, it is not tied to your network hardware.

I was a bit preoccupied and did not get the chance to figure out the AppStore issue, but I noticed that after the restore of the second account, a lot of the applications are owned by root:wheel as well as <login>:admin or <old login>:admin. There are some that are owned by user 503:admin. That's very odd. I'll continue my investigating. But given that in some countries it's New Year's Eve, or already passed, today doesn't look promising.

Also, at my login screen, a third user appeared (as an option): Guest. That warrants another investigation. And I do need to re-register my Kaspersky, as it keeps crying about not all options not being enabled. Ugh.

Happy 2014.