24

Local time: 10:45 AM

I get a call from a customer. "My computer isn't working," she says. "I can't get to Google."

"What does it say?" Ideas swirl through my mind as I ask the question. I've seen this problem before.

"'Your connection is not private,'" says she. "I just want to buy a program."

I instantly know what the problem is.

"What time does your computer say it is?" I say it calmly, almost with a knowing smile. Yes, this has to be the issue.

"Um... 1:40," she says, a drip of confusion in her voice.

"That's your problem," I say. "Just fix that and you'll be good to go."

The problem was resolved and all was good.

Comments
  • 2
    How does the time being off cause this?
  • 0
    Its against Replay attacks.
  • 8
    @jhh2450
    Web certificates. The full date was June 11, 2017, 1:40 AM. The certificate for the website she was attempting to connect to (Google) had already expired.

    It happens fairly frequently.
  • 3
    You should change batteries in her computer
  • 1
    @RiderExMachina Shit that was my birthday 😂😂

    But oh ok that makes sense
  • 1
    @stop
    Yeah,, it's more than likely a dead CMOS battery... but it wasn't in shop, so oh well

    @jhh2450
    The more you know!
  • 3
    @RiderExMachina yup. Happened with me when I was kid. Around 10 years ago. Saw the IT guy fixing it with the CMOS battery and telling me that always keep the computer clock correct.
  • 0
    @itsnameless
    Actually, I don't remember... I had two calls from two different people; one I helped reset the clock to normal and one I didn't. I can't remember which person this was...
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