Security message - is it a dodgy site?

123456

I am trying to purchase a product from zooplus.co.uk. The manufacturer does not seem to make the item anymore and I can't find it on any other site but this one (zooplus.co.uk) I have used the site before with no problem, but probably at least a year ago. When I go to the 'checkout' to pay, I get this message:

The certificate is not trusted because it is self signed.
The certificate is only valid for 169.254.0.254.

I have tried both Mozilla & Internet explorer with the same result. The item will only cost £15.00, is it worth a risk? The site looks extensive and legitimate and, as I say, I have used it before.

Thanks for any help.

fwor

It's not anything at your end. They really are using an invalid certificate which they have signed themselves.

The good bit is that if you add an exception for this invalid certificate, your data should still be encrypted when you submit it to their website.

The bad bit is that they are obviously skimping (proper, valid certificates signed by a recognised issuer like Verisign cost money, of course), so I would have serious concerns about where else a company like that is trying to take shortcuts...

thebyp

Never understand the self signed thing - certs only cost £10.

Coopdivi

The same thing happened to me when I clicked on the 'Contact' link.

On their help page it says:
My browser shows me that the security certificate has expired. Why?

Due to the fact that security certificates have expiration dates, an incorrect date setting on your computer can cause SSL pages not be shown. Therefore, please make sure that the date and hour have been set correctly.



Which is plainly bull.



The Domain Registration indicates they're based in Germany although the website phone number is for the Bedford region.



http://whois.domaintools.com/zooplus.co.uk



I couldn't find an address on their website. Perhaps I looked in the wrong place.



I personally wouldn't shop there.

Mr_squishy

Hi,
I have shopped at zooplus but that was about a year ago. I had no problems but delivery was a little slow to due to the item going out of stock, but the money wasnt taken until the item was sent.

Hope this helps in your decision.

gazzer82

I would be a little cautious shopping from any site that uses a self signed cert for there SSL. As stated above signed certs are not that expensive, and are actually part of the requirement's for a lot of the merchant systems that these sites use for the payment system.

That said, it could be a simple misconfiguration on there end with there internal SSL proxy or something, i would drop them an email and let them know/explain what you are seeing. It way well be that they have not noticed the problem.

Cheers

Gareth

tronator

thebyp wrote: »

Never understand the self signed thing - certs only cost £10.

Per year? Do you have a link?

Self signed certificates make sense for internal use where you only need the encryption and don't have to proof anybody who you are. I run my own mail server and don't need a certificate from a trusted CA.

In my last job I used a self signed certificate for the company's mail server too. To avoid the "error" message you can create your own CA, sign the SSL certificate with it and deploy the CA via GPO...

davester

Domain name:
zooplus.co.uk

Registrant:
zooplus.com AG

Registrant type:
Non-UK Corporation

Registrant's address:
Guido Bienhaus
Eichenweg 4a
Unterfoehring
DE
85774
Germany

Registrar:
InterNetWire Communications GmbH [Tag = INTERNETWIRE-DE]
URL: http://www.internetwire.de

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 03-Aug-1999
Renewal date: 03-Aug-2011
Last updated: 05-Oct-2009