Rated 5 out of 5 stars

No average user should need this—if you see a padlock in your URL-bar, you have a secure connection and are okay to communicate securely on the Internet.

For security enthusiasts, it highlights something that may present itself as a weak link in secure (SSL/TLS) connections. Browsers do not individually ensure websites are who they say they are; they delegate this to a select number of "Certificate authorities" or CAs (given at https://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/certs/included/) that, in turn, vouch for the validity and security of websites. We don't generally see CAs that approve websites like PayPal.com or StateFarm.com unless we open up the page dialog (http://mzl.la/Mk9DSW).

The extension displays these hidden Certificate Authorities in the add-on bar, grouped by country, and the bottom-level Certificate Authority for any given secure site. This should be enough for anybody concerned about "rogue CAs" they may distrust and would want to watch.

For a primer on secure connections, read http://mzl.la/MDvkxK or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Secure. An add-on that might be of interest is Calomel SSL Validator, which can be found at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/207653/.

...Is it just me, or does the "when I click the Statusbar, do..." option box have no choices other than "Nothing"?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I am suprised it has so few users and reviews. Useful for anyone that is remotely security-conscious!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Very useful. Why hasn't it been kept up to date. Would give five stars if it weren't out of date.

JD: With Firefox 29 or newer, please install the separate add-on "The Addon Bar (restored)". It will restore the add-on bar (statusbar) at the bottom of the Firefox windows, and this Conspiracy add-on should work.