Russian websites may greet visitors with warnings about the dangers, even if they have not been hacked. Foreign companies have already revoked nearly 11,000 security certificates from about 1,300 Russian organizations. As a result, their websites may no longer open in popular browsers.
Russian websites may greet visitors with warnings about the dangers, even if they have not been hacked. Foreign companies have already revoked nearly 11,000 security certificates from about 1,300 Russian organizations. As a result, their websites may no longer open in popular browsers.
This was reported by the Russian domain registrar "Rucenter".
Since May 2026, updated requirements of the international association CA/Browser Forum, which includes the largest certification centers and browser developers, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla, have come into effect.
According to these rules, the centers must check clients against sanctions lists. But, as the "Rucentr" complains, even the absence of such lists does not guarantee peace of mind for Russian companies.
After all, even a third party can contact the certification center with a complaint. During the verification of such applications, errors are possible, due to which certificates can be revoked even from companies that are not under sanctions. According to the representative of the "Rucentr" Georgy Kazarov, the Greek HARICA revoked a large number of certificates in just a few seconds during one of the previous waves.
In addition, sometimes one revoked certificate affects several services at once. This applies to so-called wildcard certificates, which allow you to protect several subdomains at the same time. In October alone, 24 such certificates were revoked. The loss of one of them can cause problems with both the company's main website and other online services that it owns.
Russia has its own National Certification Authority, which issues local TLS certificates. However, popular foreign browsers, including Chrome, Safari, and Firefox, do not trust them by default.
Previously, dev.ua reported how Russia is gradually moving towards creating its own isolated Internet — the so-called "Cheburnet". The Russian authorities are restricting access to foreign services, blocking messengers and tightening control over Internet traffic. But complete isolation from the global network could be costly for the Russian Federation, in particular through losses for telecom companies and loss of access to foreign technologies.
