The current US government shutdown status is making official websites harder to access and potentially leaving users vulnerable. Affected websites include the US Department of Justice, the Court of Appeals and Nasa. The shutdown, over a funding row for President Trump's wall, has left thousands of federal workers unpaid.
One of the side effects of this situation is that security certificates for websites are not being renewed. Digital certificates ensure that communications between devices and websites are sent in an encrypted, secure manner and are an essential part of keeping IT infrastructure up and running. But, when issued, they are given an expiration date of anything between a few months and several years.
