Safari cannot establish a secure connection

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Level 1

12 points

Safari cannot establish a secure connection

I'm getting this message when trying to follow a link from an email. I've looked at all the security settings for Safari and cannot see anything that would block this link. The email contains a newsletter that I've received regularly and accessed without problems over several years. This blocking message appeared only recently. The link goes to an article at svc.dynamics.com, which seems to be some kind of Microsoft service. I have the latest version of Safari (18.2), running on Macos 14.7.2.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 14.7

Posted on Feb 2, 2025 9:48 AM

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Answer 1

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Roger H Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 2, 2025 10:08 AM in response to Roger H

Poking around, I've just discovered that the attempt to load the linked content was being blocked by a VPN that was active. Turning off the VPN enabled correct loading of the content.

Now, the VPN has nothing to do with the website that I'm attempting to access, and is associated with a different email address. I assumed that the VPN would only control access to content on the network that it is associated with. Surely it should not block content that is unrelated to that? So, my question now is: is there any way I can fix this blocking without turning off the VPN?

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Answer 2

MrHoffman

Level 10

149,867 points

Feb 2, 2025 10:24 AM in response to Roger H

VPNs are notoriously sketchy, and quite fond of collecting metadata.

Some VPNs appear to go further and try to decrypt and collect data from the existing and secure end-to-end connections that the VPN already partially re-wraps with comparatively poor results, and that unwrapping then causes functional and privacy issues.

And some web sites will block VPNs for various reasons, not the least of which are the folks using the VPNs for shady purposes.

And no, shutting off a VPN does not necessarily remove it from involvement, as some VPNs do not correctly shut off and disentangle themselves when disabled, too.

If you want a “coffee shop” VPN and server that you have somewhat better control over, there’s Algo. Or get the firewall gear (preferably with an embedded VPN server) necessary to host the VPN server at your office or residence.

For connection protection and privacy, Apple iCloud+ Private Relay does pretty well, with its two-hop Tor-like structure, and ODoH support. https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/iCloud_Private_Relay_Overview_Dec2021.PDF

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Safari cannot establish a secure connection

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