whitepaper
Security warnings when browsing to JetDirect Print Servers
May 2011 (revised June 2011)
Security warnings when browsing to JetDirect Print Servers
A user browsing to an HP JetDirect print server on a Laserjet printer or MFP will encounter a warning that the website cannot be trusted. Microsoft Internet Explorer will give a warning that, “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate”, while Mozilla Firefox reports that, “This Connection is Untrusted”. Other browsers will give similar warnings. When browsing to JetDirect print servers, these warnings indicate that though the exchanges with the Laserjet printer are secure, the browser cannot identify it as a trusted web server. Unless the printer has been specifically configured with an identity certificate signed by a certificate authority, these warnings can be safely ignored.
When browsing to a public or commercial website, such warnings indicate that the browser cannot adequately validate the identity of the web site based on the security credentials (i.e. the identity certificate) it presents. In commercial or public settings (i.e. browsing to commercial or public web sites), these warnings should not be ignored.
Any web site, whether a public/commercial site or the web server of an HP Laserjet printer or MFP, uses the HTTPS protocol to secure the exchanges with the browser. The HTTPS protocol provides two protections: confidentiality, i.e. preventing eavesdropping between the browser and web site, and authenticity of the web site. Exchanges over the HTTPS protocol, whether in the HP Laserjet web server or any public web server, will always be encrypted assuring their confidentiality. However, the
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