diff --git a/plugin_manager.py b/plugin_manager.py
index d1c81af..3b688b7 100644
--- a/plugin_manager.py
+++ b/plugin_manager.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ License: GPL-3.0
 
 # Built-in imports
 import io
+import ssl
 import sys
 import json
 import shutil
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, cast
 
 # External library imports
+import certifi
 from PySide6.QtCore import QObject, QUrl, Signal
 from PySide6.QtGui import QDesktopServices
 from PySide6.QtWidgets import QMainWindow, QMenu, QMessageBox
@@ -27,6 +29,11 @@ from PySide6.QtWidgets import QMainWindow, QMenu, QMessageBox
 from src.shared.shareddata import APP_NAME, CURRENT_VERSION, PLATFORM_NAME
 
 
+def get_ssl_context() -> ssl.SSLContext:
+    """Returns a cross-platform SSL context configured with certifi's CA bundle."""
+    return ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
+
+
 def get_current_platform_id() -> str:
     """Returns standardized platform identifier (win_x64, darwin_arm64, etc.)."""
     sys_name = sys.platform
@@ -282,7 +289,7 @@ class PluginManager(QObject):
                     url,
                     headers={"User-Agent": f"{APP_NAME}-PluginManager"},
                 )
-                with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=5) as response:
+                with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=5, context=get_ssl_context()) as response:
                     if response.status == 200:
                         raw_data = response.read().decode("utf-8")
                         data = json.loads(raw_data)
@@ -305,7 +312,7 @@ class PluginManager(QObject):
             headers={"User-Agent": f"{APP_NAME}-PluginManager"},
         )
 
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=15) as response:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=15, context=get_ssl_context()) as response:
             if response.status != 200:
                 raise RuntimeError(f"Download failed with HTTP status code {response.status}")
 
diff --git a/src/shared/shareddata.py b/src/shared/shareddata.py
index fb7592d..dd42f94 100644
--- a/src/shared/shareddata.py
+++ b/src/shared/shareddata.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import sys
 import platform
 
 
-CURRENT_VERSION = "1.7.1"
+CURRENT_VERSION = "1.7.2"
 APP_NAME = "flares"
 APP_NAME_EXPANDED = "fNIRS Lightweight Analysis, Research, & Evaluation Suite"
 API_URL = f"https://git.research.dezeeuw.ca/api/v1/repos/tyler/{APP_NAME}/releases"