The websites of several major Russian banks have stopped opening normally in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and other foreign browsers. The problem appeared on the evening of August 3 after banks switched to Russian security certificates, which foreign programs do not support by default.
The restrictions affected the websites of VTB, Sberbank, Alfa-Bank, Rosselkhozbank, Uralsib, Promsvyazbank, and Bank Saint Petersburg. Services may behave differently: some show a warning about an insecure connection, others do not allow access to the authorization page. The T-Bank website continued to open without restrictions.
Banks had previously warned customers about possible problems and advised them to switch to a browser that supports domestic certificates. All the listed resources work correctly in Yandex Browser, where Ministry of Digital Development certificates are built in by default. Amid the failures, the "Yandex Browser with Alisa AI" application rose to first place among free programs in the Russian App Store.
Another option is to independently install Ministry of Digital Development certificates in Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS. Files and instructions are available on Gosuslugi. TelecomDaily analyst Denis Kuskov noted that such components, like other programs, could theoretically collect information about user actions. However, he did not provide confirmation of personal surveillance of device owners.
The problem may extend beyond internet banking. Restrictions could affect online cash registers and payment pages associated with banking domains: Chrome, Edge, or Safari may refuse to open the payment form. iPhone owners are particularly vulnerable, as many Russian banks' applications have been removed from the App Store, and users have to access their personal accounts through a browser.
The situation was caused by the revocation of foreign SSL certificates from Russian organizations. After that, banks began to switch to certificates from the National Certification Authority of the Ministry of Digital Development, which are not yet recognized by most foreign browsers.
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