The validity period of SSL certificates has long been a major concern for cybersecurity professionals, especially after Google's proposal in March last year to limit the validity of SSL certificates to 90 days via a vote in the CA/B Forum, given its significant impact on enterprises that heavily rely on manual certificate management. This article outlines the understanding of shortening certificate validity periods and strategies for addressing the change.

Is 90 days the ultimate validity period? 

The trend of shortening certificate lifecycles is not new and has intensified in recent years. Over time, the validity period of certificates has been reduced from an initial 10 years to 5 years, 3 years, 2 years, 1 year, and now approaching 90 days. So, is 90 days the final length for certificate validity periods?

• On one hand, SSL certificates are digital certificates used by browsers to verify the identity of web servers. The longer the duration between validations, the lower the reliability of the validation, so shorter certificate validity periods can indeed enhance security
• On the other hand, with the continuous improvement of computing power, when the risk of large-scale cracking of SSL certificates relying on computational power arises, the validity period of certificates will be shortened again.

This implies that manual certificate management processes have struggled to keep up with the pace of SSL certificate renewals.

Certificate automation has shifted from an optional feature to a necessity

While shortening the validity period of certificates brings numerous advantages, managing SSL certificates has undoubtedly always been a tedious process—enterprises must annually place SSL certificates on the correct servers, install and configure them, and ensure timely renewal before expiration. Attempting to multiply this process several times over, coupled with the varying expiration dates of each certificate, can lead to severe consequences such as business disruptions, data breaches, cyber-attacks, and financial losses if handled improperly.

Therefore, SSL Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) will emerge as the inevitable choice for enterprise certificate management.

CLM enables enterprises to automate tasks such as certificate renewal, deployment, monitoring, and early warning. As the complexity of certificate management intensifies, automated operations and maintenance not only address the severe consequences that may arise from improper management but also reduce labor costs for enterprises, ensuring business continuity and security.

sslTrus CLM Certificate Lifecycle Management Solution (SaaS)

sslTrus CLM (SaaS) is an automated operations and maintenance (O&M) solution dedicated to SSL certificate management. It simplifies the processes of managing, deploying, renew, monitoring, reissue, and compliance monitoring of SSl certificates through intelligent and automated means, reducing O&M costs for enterprises and enhancing system security and stability.

Supporting multiple public CA interfaces and certificate types, it offers comprehensive SSL certificate management functions, including automated deployment, automated renew, automatic certificate discovery, real-time monitoring, pre-alerts, ensuring the security and compliance of enterprises' digital assets.

sslTrus CLM (SaaS) helps enterprises streamline certificate management while reducing the risk of certificate disruptions, achieving zero incidents in certificate O&M, by lowering O&M costs, improving security, enhancing compliance, boosting efficiency, offering high flexibility, continuous optimization, and a free policy.

Free policy

sslTrus CLM (SaaS) is available for free when you purchase SSL certificates from Nicsrs.com, granting you seamless access to this comprehensive suite of powerful services. This will be an invaluable asset in helping enterprises smoothly transition to the era of 90-day short-lived certificates.

In conclusion, as the era of 90-day SSL certificates arrives, sslTrus Certificate Lifecycle Management will become an indispensable security safeguard for enterprises. By adopting the sslTrus CLM solution, enterprises can manage SSL certificates more efficiently, enhance their cybersecurity posture, and provide robust support for the continuous and stable operation of their business.

For more information about sslTrus CLM and to experience it for free, please contact us for support.