Validity of 2-year SSL certificates after 1 September

As of September 1, 2020, Safari (Apple), the second most popular web browser, will crop maximum TLS certificate lifetime to just 1 year, 398 days exactly.

Currently, the maximum validity date of SSL certificates is 2 years (actually 825 days). For security reasons this period is to be reduced to 1 year.

The security standards are changing so quickly that issuing SSL certificates for longer periods may not provide adequate protection and as a result, the goal is missed.

Only two years ago it was possible to obtain SSL certificates valid for 3 years, you can still find SSL certificates for 5 years active in the network. Do they adequately protect visitors? In most cases, most likely not – the level of security and encryption has significantly increased over the past years, but the computing power of the computers used to crack these ciphers and the possibilities of bypassing the security has also increased. With such dynamic progress, it is natural and understandable that SSL certificates should be replaced more often – implementing the current standards for the date of issue.

Current Web browser market share:

browser market share

It’s only a matter of time until other web browsers (such as Chrome) will also shorten the deadline for recognizing the long-term validity date of SSL certificates.

It is important that the announced changes will not affect already issued certificates. Therefore, 2-year certificates issued up to and including August 31, 2020, will remain valid, also for Safari users.

After that date, when renewing an SSL certificate or buying a new one, you will have to analyze the current standards and consider whether ordering a certificate for 2 years still makes sense.

If you want to have peace of mind about renewing SSL certificates for another 2 years you should think about renewing them until August 31st; if you value high level of security and availability – it is better to order certificates valid for 1 year.

Here you will find our offer of SSL certificates with the possibility to issue them for 1 or 2 years:

SSL certificates