Hi

We’ve had a few threads ([1]) on this list about administrators needing to be 
careful when activating HSTS and/or HPKP, because a common mistake like 
forgetting to replace the certificate in time can brick your site. The usual 
conclusion was that companies and organizations without the proper technical 
capacity to maintain a valid certificate should not use these features ([2])

So today we got a real live demo how this can happen even to big, well-funded 
companies ([3]). HSTS and HPKP were not involved - this was not a browser, but 
a client that was programmed to hard-fail when receiving an expired 
certificate. It is the equivalent of a site with HSTS, and if it can happen to 
them, it could happen to anybody.

I’m not saying we should revisit our previous decisions. Obviously Apple can 
fix this now in minutes (probably already has), and all the consequences are 
some bad press. I just think it is illuminating that even at large companies 
there is no guarantee that an action that needs to be performed once a year 
will be done correctly.

Yoav

[1] http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/websec/current/msg01119.html (just an 
example - there were many threads)
[2] http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/websec/current/msg01213.html
[3] http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/25/apple-software-update-invalid/
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