When you strongly trust a company like Google, they are supposed to take care of your personal messages.
But, a certificate update was not done in time which is when Gmail started showing errors for its users.
The service was up and running properly, but it started acting weird, reported multiple users on Twitter among other social networking websites. Some of them started posting complaints on the Google Plus official pages and the blogspot comments section. The company didn’t make them wait much, but started rolling out an apology message for the inconvenience caused.
Missing Certificate Renewal
Just like every other website, Google has dedicated security certificates which has to be renewed in due time so that all e-mails sent through Gmail are secure. Encryption is an important part of the process and when a SSL certificate failed, users started receiving warning messages. Many of them were confused as most assumed that the problem is related to their own browser or their account. It was only after a couple of hours that the users realized it is a Google error.
The same problem was also faced by millions of users who tried sending e-mails using the Gmail app on Android and iOS, among the other platforms. The first batch of people took to Twitter and posted complaints. The error messages were not rectified immediately, because even though Google updated their certificates, it took at least three days before things were back to normal.
In-House Security Issue
All the certificates for Gmail and other Google products are managed by a company named Authority G2. It is an in-house company that is owned and operated directly by the search engine giant. If it is a third party company, they could easily blame them for being careless. But, there is no such option at the moment and the only way is to take the responsibility for the mistake committed.
In a press statement, the company clarified that there were no security issues or leaks that took place during the days when the certificate was not validated. Google also confirmed that a majority of the users, who rely on their services, got affected due to this technical issue. They apologized and added that it will not happen again. At the moment, all the certificates are in place. It is a problem that emerged as soon as the company refused to accept the certificates issued by a Chinese company, because it was not reliable and was found to be unintelligible.
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