Hello

I have been receiving some errors lately under System in the Event Viewer

The certificate received from the remote server has expired. The SSL connection request has failed. The attached data contains the server certificate.

Event 36881

What could be causing this and what is this Schannel thing?
I can't seem to find the reasons behind these errors, I mean I'm not sure what I'm doing at the moment on my computer when the errors occur.

I'm running XP pro SP2

Sometimes it is important for a Website to accurately identify you the user when you browse and attempt access.
For instance, if you access your Bank via online-banking, you must provide at least a user-name and password.

But the opposite direction is also important.
When you want to bank online or make a purchase online, it is important to you to know that you are dealing with the legitimate online store or bank.

That's where "certificates" come into play.

If you've done online banking or purchasing, you will have noticed that the URL for the secure connection has changed

for instance:

http:/bankofamerica.com
becomes
https://bankofamerica.com

and in most instances your browser will also display a little pad-lock symbol at the bottom of your screen.

How security certificates are issued, how they use SSL 3.0 and TSL 1.0 is a fairly large question and answer, and most likely beyond the scope of this Forum.

Hopefully the above is sufficient information.
______________

More than likely you have browsed to a web-site who has allowed their certificate to lapse.
It happens.
People forget to pay their bills, so do website owners.

But it is also possible that a site is being spoofed.

Remember,
NEVER click on email links purporting to send your browser to a secure link.
Instead, enter the address information manually yourself.

Best Regards

I see. Thanks for the reply.
By the way, would you happen to know why when I sometimes go to mail.yahoo.com the security lock (down right corner, using firefox) is sometimes with a red exclamation mark on it? and sometimes there is no exclamation mark

seems weird to me for a page such as yahoo mail

Sounds like you are using Internet Explorer?

Have a look at Security Reports feature:

from the Menu bar - View - Security Report

No, I mentioned that I'm using firefox in my previous post.