What is: http://OCSP.msocsp.com?

What is: http://ocsp.msocsp.com?

MS-OCSP stands for “Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) Extensions” from Microsoft. Although this might seem a bit daunting the plain english version of that isn’t: “Microsoft publishes Open Specifications documentation for protocols, file formats, languages, standards as well as overviews of the interaction among each of these technologies.” This is a protocol extension provided by Microsoft to check on the Certificate Status. Performing a whois on the domain name confirms this is a domain owned by Microsoft so it is considered safe. If your firewall software is notifying you of connections to ocsp.msocsp.com you can relax. I am including below the WhoIs information at the date of publishing confirming it is a Microsoft domain.

Some of the URLs you might encounter include:

http://ocsp.msocsp.com/MFQwUjBQME4wTDAJBgUrDgMCGgUABBQmECJms4f7i5EbxtN7NbzQCBwAdAQUUa8kJpz0aCJXgCYrO0ZiFXsezKUCE1oAAEM52uIyBv92B7sAAQAAQzk%3D

http://ocsp.msocsp.com/MFQwUjBQME4wTDAJBgUrDgMCGgUABBSfAP5wz6TZE9AhTecbrorIUEieTwQU3Igt2WxNPQB…

Whois for MSOCSP.Com:

Domain Name: MSOCSP.COM
Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com
Name Server: NS1.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS2.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS3.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS4.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS5.MSFT.NET
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 20-jan-2014
Creation Date: 20-jan-2014
Expiration Date: 20-jan-2015

Domain Name: msocsp.com
Registry Domain ID: 1843565191_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar URL: http://www.markmonitor.com
Updated Date: 2014-10-15T07:09:26-0700
Creation Date: 2014-01-20T10:25:22-0800
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2015-01-20T10:25:22-0800
Registrar: MarkMonitor, Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 292
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.2083895740
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Domain Administrator
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Registrant Street: One Microsoft Way,
Registrant City: Redmond
Registrant State/Province: WA
Registrant Postal Code: 98052
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.4258828080
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +1.4259367329
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Domain Administrator
Admin Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Admin Street: One Microsoft Way,
Admin City: Redmond
Admin State/Province: WA
Admin Postal Code: 98052
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.4258828080
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax: +1.4259367329
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: [email protected]
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: MSN Hostmaster
Tech Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Tech Street: One Microsoft Way,
Tech City: Redmond
Tech State/Province: WA
Tech Postal Code: 98052
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.4258828080
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +1.4259367329
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: [email protected]
Name Server: ns4.msft.net
Name Server: ns1.msft.net
Name Server: ns5.msft.net
Name Server: ns3.msft.net
Name Server: ns2.msft.net