Why Your Old Smartphones, Tablets or Consoles May Lose Internet From Thursday

This is the end of a world. This Thursday, at 4:01 pm sharp, internet connections will no longer lead to devices sold before 2017 that have not made updates or are no longer available. The question of planned obsolescence is not here. Millions of devices are simply affected by the effects of a vague digital security certificate expiration.

“I do not know how many devices depend on it but I know something is going to break somewhere,” British cyber security researcher Scott Helm predicted in a post on his blog. Discovered by phonontroid.

At the end of its life after 20 years of service, there is a problem with the IdentTrust DST root CA X3 “root” certificate. Hides the digital verification of another certificate under this secret name, ISRG Root X1, which encrypts and therefore allows Internet access in a secure manner and is recognized by servers and browsers.

The fate of older smartphones was sealed

Non-Internet devices include computers, video game consoles or smartphones over 4 years old. Most people are already very tired, but you can count on them if new devices crash. All PCs running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (2004) like Max with version prior to MacOS 10.12.1 (2016).

For smartphones, Android versions older than 2016’s Nowcut 7.1.1 and iPhones below iOS 10 were released in September 2016. The iPhone 5 is the last model capable of installing iOS 10, so you can enjoy your collector’s iPhone 4 announced “blackout”.

Please note that older PS4s that have not had their firmware updated since 5.00 will also be disconnected.

If you definitely need to connect one of these devices, there are two practical solutions. The easiest way to update before Thursday is to use the Firefox browser, which offers its own certificates, to continue browsing after the lucky date.