Internet SHUTDOWN today; will it affect you? Just do this

In a development that will shock, it has been revealed that there will be an Internet shutdown today and that it will affect some users. Internet outage today will be due to one of the largest HTTPS certificate providers in the world, according to reports. The reason for this is that the root certificate of Let’s Encrypt, the non-profit that issues HTTPS certificates to users for free, expired this week. Thousands of Android and iOS devices too may experience Internet blackout issues while trying to connect. However, there’s a fix available for some users if Internet blocked.

The Internet outage will be caused by the weirdest of things. HTTPS certificates are an important tool to protect data travelling between a user’s computer and a server, making it very difficult for hackers to intercept and read those communications. Unlike other certificate providers that charge a fee for issuing these HTTPS certificates, Let’s Encrypt is a non-profit that gives users certificates for free – it has helped several websites secure their communications over the past few years.

Also read: Looking for a smartphone? Check Mobile Finder here.

Why Internet shutdown may happen

Unfortunately for Internet users, the root certificate (which browsers rely on to trust a certificate authority like Let’s Encrypt, IdenTrust, DigiCert, and Sectigo) for Let’s Encrypt has expired on September 30, according to security researcher Scott Helme. This means that after the IdentTrust DST Root CA X3 certificate expires, apps, computers, smartphones and even browsers will not trust any certificates issued by Let’s Encrypt – which could prevent them from loading a sizeable portion of the web – the service has reportedly issued two billion certificates since it was started in 2014.

Who will be impacted by the Internet outage?

Older devices are most likely to be affected, with macOS 2016, Windows XP users among those on desktop operating systems likely to be hit. Similarly, if you are using an older PlayStation with out-of-date firmware, you will also be affected, as TechCrunch reports. Android users are unlikely to be affected by the move as Let’s Encrypt moved to an ISRG Root X1 certificate, which won’t expire until 2035.

How to fix the Internet blocked issue

Users running devices with older operating systems like Android Lollipop (5.0) or older should download the Mozilla Firefox browser, as it relies on its own, up-to-date built-in certificate store. This will probably fix the internet blocked issue.