Mozilla stated that it does not trust certificates from DarkMatter, blocking them from its popular browser (FireFox).
Months earlier, United Arab Emirates-based DarkMatter asked Mozilla to officially include its root certificates in the Firefox certificate store , which is a space in the browser reserved for certificate authorities that are trusted and approved to issue HTTPS.
Mozilla and other browser makers use this store to know which HTTPS certificates to trust, allowing these companies to verify a website's identity and certify that data going to and from it is secure.
However, a malicious certificate authority could allow encrypted internet via fake websites.
DarkMatter has a history of controversial and illegal operations, including developing malware and spyware used by surveillance companies. The company has also been criticized by many journalists. Just a few weeks ago, Reuters reported that the Emirati company – which employs former hackers for the US National Security Agency (NSA)– was targeting various media and dissidents at the behest of the Arab monarchy.
Therefore, Mozilla could either accept DarkMatter's registration as a certification authority or reject it based on the above. Of course, it chose the latter.
"Our primary responsibility is to protect the people who rely on our products," said Wayne Thayer, Mozilla's certification program manager. He added that DarkMatter poses "significant risk to our users."
Thayer added that while both sides of DarkMatter's activity were considered, the browser maker cited a core principle of the company – "and individual security privacy online are fundamental and should not be treated as optional" – as a reason for rejection.
DarkMatter has not yet commented on the incident.
