Firefox ever since Firefox 3.0 has been using the Site Identity Button. I take it you upgraded from Firefox 3.6.* to 8.0.1 but not to 9.0.1 yet. The padlock was a bit misleading as it only showed that there is a secure connection and doesn't guarantee that you are connected to the right server. So you might still be connected to the wrong server if you make a typo in the URL and someone has claimed that mistyped URL. The functionality of the padlock has been replaced by the Site Identity Button on the left end of the location (address) bar. https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Site+Identity+Button http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/security/identity/ If you still want a padlock icon also then there is this Extension. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/padlock-icon/ Also the Status bar is now replaced by the Add-on bar. If you want the Status bar then see https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/status-4-evar/