There may be a firewall stopping you from connecting to secure websites if your computer is part of a local area network, or you use:

• a virtual private network (VPN), or
• an integrated subscriber digital network (ISDN).

The way your computer has been set up will determine which internet sites you can use.

Contact your:

• IT support
• system administrator, or
• account manager (VPN and ISDN users)

to add "https://www.ird.govt.nz/" to the list of trusted sites.

If you have an older web browser (before Internet Explorer 5.00.2614 or Netscape 4.6) you may get this message when you access a secure webpage, ie, page addresses that start with "https" (this includes most of the online services and forms on this website).

The message occurs because your browser's root certificate (that confirms to your browser that the website you're connecting to really is the site that it claims to be) has expired.

To see which browser version you have:

• Internet Explorer: Open the Help menu and choose About Internet Explorer
• Netscape: Open the Help menu and choose About Communicator (or About Netscape).

You can:

• upgrade your browser to a newer version which already has the current root certificate. You can download newer browsers from Netscape or Microsoft. (The very newest version may not be compatible if you have an older operating system such as Microsoft Windows 95.)
• download and install the current root certificate into your present browser. You can do this from the VeriSign Australia website (see "Related websites"), who supply the root certificates. This is more involved than upgrading your browser.
• simply choose "Continue" in the message box and you can still use "https" pages. The information you send to them will no longer be very secure, and your browser won't be able to positively identify the website that it is connecting to.

Find out more about root certificates on the VeriSign Australia website (see "Related websites").