Well, the application based firewall will make it easier for the firewall to open the proper ports for the secure sites.
As to the other, he may not have the proper patch level / security software for the secure sites. He may not have his browser settings set to a secure enough level, and the web site can tell that rather eaisly. Normally, it gives you the error message stating your encryption is not high enough, or your are missing a specific plug-in.
Considering it is a cross browser problem, it could be that he needs to update his JAVA, or that it is a McAfee firewall problem. I've seen it do that several times. I don't remember the steps for the McAfee security center to unblock specific ports, sad to say.
Remember, many of the "anti-virus" softwares now are a suite which include firewalls. So, this begs the question of the OP:
What antivirus program are you using?
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