Can't browse any https sites

Hello...

Suddenly today I can't access any https sites, either with any browser: Ff, Safari, Opera. I get assorted errors depending on the browser. Safari returns: "couldn't establish secure connection". Firefox gives "The browser connected successfully, but the connection was interrupted while transferring information. Please try again."

I try several different https sites.

A reboot fixes the trouble, but it returns again eventually.

I have a VMWare Fusion virtual machine with XP. The browsers work fine there.

Resolved, maybe. Symptoms grew increasingly odd. At one point I could browse https but not http. Then USB keyboard/mouse unresponsive, then kernel panic, and maybe a chatty keyboard.

Did the maintanence scripts, then the disk permissions which repaired some permissions in .../parental controls, then reset the PRAM.

I think it's all settling down now. But wow, what a wild ride.