Message that the site is insecure, or may not have a valid security certificate
Starting near the end of September, 2021, we began to encounter cases with members whose version of the Mac OS is more than five or six years old, getting a message that there is a potential problem with the security of our web sites.
So far we have seen messages about an insecure connection or invalid certificate in with members using Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Opera browsers. We have not seen this with Mozilla's Firefox browser.
Rest assured, regardless of the message, our sites are encrypted. From our research, the issue is that the older version of the operating system can have trouble recognizing the more current security certificates that our sites use.
If you are using a Mac with OS 10.11 (El Capitan circa 2015) or earlier, or an Android or iPhone from the time period, you may encounter these alerts. The sites are still secure, but we do suggest updating to a more recent version of Mac OS (or iOS or Android if you are seeing these messages on a phone or tablet), if possible.
To check which version of the Mac OS you have, use these steps:
Click the Apple menu in the top corner of your screen
Choose About This Mac. You should see the macOS name, such as macOS Big Sur, followed by its version number. If you need to know the build number as well, click the version number to see it.'
If the version is 10.11 or lower, browsers such as Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Opera may have trouble with the more recent security certificates on our sites.
If that's the case, you can continue to use the browsers; the sites are still secure, but you will continue to see error or alert messages about potential problems. You could switch to use Mozilla's Firefox browser; it works independent of the version of Mac OS that you have, and would be less likely to encounter these issues.
However, the best solution will be to update your version of the Mac OS (or iOS or Android if possible); doing so will make sure that your computer recognizes more up to date security certificates, and you will get fewer false alarms about potential security issues.