The digital certificate landscape is undergoing a major transformation. In an effort to enhance internet security and streamline certificate management, the maximum validity periods for SSL/TLS certificates are being significantly reduced.
Today, SSL certificates can be valid for up to 398 days (just over 13 months). But by 2029, that window will shrink dramatically to just 47 days. Major browser vendors, including Apple, Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft – have all backed this initiative, and the changes are being rolled out in phases over the next few years
Key dates to know
The proposed timeline for reducing SSL/TLS certificate validity:
- March 15, 2026: Maximum validity drops to 200 days
- March 15, 2027: Maximum validity drops to 100 days
- March 2029: Maximum validity drops to 47 days
Why the shift to shorter validity?
Shorter certificate lifespans are designed to:
- Enhance Security: Reducing the risk of compromised or misissued certificates staying active for extended periods.
- Encourage Automation: Short lifespans make manual renewals impractical, pushing for automation and modern lifecycle management.
- Ensure Agility: Enables faster adaptation to industry changes, vulnerabilities, and threats.
What does this mean for your business?
These shorter lifespans will require organizations to revalidate domains and renew certificates more frequently than ever before. If your organization is still managing SSL certificates manually, these changes will significantly increase operational complexity. If you are still renewing your SSLs manually, please contact a Brandec representative to discuss how we can automate this process for you.
How can you prepare?
1. Embrace Automation: Invest in automated certificate lifecycle management tools. Automation ensures timely renewals and reduces the risk of outages or non-compliance. At Brandsec, automation is already built into our certificate issuance and renewal processes, we help clients streamline SSL management and stay ahead of upcoming changes with minimal manual effort.
2. Audit Your Current Environment: Identify all active SSL certificates, review expiry dates, and flag any that are manually managed.
3. Plan for Flexibility: Prepare now to adapt to even shorter lifespans in the future. The industry is clearly moving toward 30- to 45-day validity windows over the next few years.
How Brandsec will support you
While changes to SSL certificate validity is a subject to be on top off, at Brandsec, we’re ahead of the curve. Our SSL service is built with automation in mind, from issuance to renewal, ensuring your certificates remain valid and compliant without manual intervention.
This change reflects a positive step toward a more secure and agile internet, but it also requires preparation. If you’re unsure how this shift will impact your organization, or you need help implementing SSL automation, the Brandsec team is here to help. Brandsec can support your auto-SSL needs through the following initiatives:
Automated SSL renewals, without the operational overhead
We support automatic renewal of DV SSL certificates directly at the DNS level, removing the risk and manual effort that comes with shorter certificate lifecycles. Whether you’re using our free or Premium DNS, we can seamlessly transfer your domain names, manage DNS centrally, and ensure certificates renew on time without disruption. The result is fewer expiry incidents, less internal burden, and a more reliable, secure setup for your teams to operate on.
Advanced certificate automation with GlobalSign
For organisations with more complex environments or higher compliance requirements, we’ve partnered with GlobalSign to deliver advanced SSL certificate automation. Through GlobalSign’s Certificate Automation Manager, we support large-scale certificate lifecycle management across hybrid and enterprise environments, reducing risk, improving visibility, and removing manual processes from certificate issuance, renewal, and governance.
About brandsec
brandsec is a team of highly experienced domain name management and online brand protection experts. We provide corporate domain name management and brand enforcement services, helping brands eliminate phishing platforms across the internet. Supporting some of the largest brands in the region, we offer innovative solutions to combat threats across multiple industries.
