Chrome and Safari block Sberbank as western authorities pull SSL certs
Chrome, Safari, and Edge have officially cut off major Russian banks after global security authorities revoked their encryption certificates, forcing state entities to tell citizens to install government root certs or switch browsers.
Western certificate authorities including Let's Encrypt and GlobalSign updated their terms to comply with Western sanctions, promptly revoking active TLS and SSL certificates belonging to major Russian financial institutions. Giant lenders like Sberbank, VTB, and Alfa-Bank suddenly found their web portals and mobile web apps flagged as unsafe or completely inaccessible across mainstream browsers.
To keep online services running, the Russian Ministry of Digital Development began issuing domestic certificates through its National Certification Center using local cryptography algorithms like ГОСТ. However, because global browsers refuse to trust state-issued root certificates out of the box, accessing a banking portal now triggers alarming security warnings for millions of users who have not manually trusted government software.
Russian banks responded by instructing customers to either download root security keys directly from state portals or switch entirely to Yandex Browser, which has the domestic authority pre-installed. State developers behind Aurora OS also seized the moment to promote their own mobile operating system as the ultimate safe haven from Western revocation lists.
The Ministry of Digital Development now offers free domestic DV and OV certificates to any Russian website owner within three business days after application via state service portals. GlobalSign initiated forced revocations for sanctioned companies back in mid-June 2026, while Let's Encrypt explicitly prohibited issuance to entities under comprehensive US sanctions.
Isolating an entire financial ecosystem's internet security from global standards turns standard web browsing into an exercise in blind trust. Trading global web standards for state-managed encryption keys might fix short-term connection errors, but it leaves an entire population navigating an increasingly walled internet.
Source: Let's Encrypt
Comments
This is where the magic happens: AI reads your discussion and rewrites the article based on the most interesting comments. Each strong comment adds points to the meter below. Once the meter is full, the article updates live — no page reload needed.