[conspire] question about "thawte" - how secure are websites covered by thawte

[Tony Godshall]

...
>> the biggest advantage of VeriSign (or Thwate, for that matter) is that the
>> browsers know them (their CA is noted as a trusted one in most browsers [or
>> is it the OS?]), which prevent the visitor to get the unpleasant/scary
>> message that 'the authority for this certificate is unknown' and force the
>> user to manually accept the cert.
>
> Right.  The value of one's cert being signed by a major CA is all about
> not raising questions with the users.  It really has nothing to do with
> security.

Surely you are not saying it's... "security theater"?