Loading your certificates...
Apple and Google are driving shorter SSL lifespans to enhance security and encourage automation. Discover what this means for businesses and how Chill SSL makes the transition easier.
Tech giants Apple and Google are pushing to shorten SSL/TLS certificate lifespans, with Apple recently proposing a maximum validity of just 47 days. That's a big reduction from the current 398-day limit.
This shift signals a broader industry trend toward enhanced security, automation, and stricter certificate management. But what does it mean for businesses, website owners, and IT administrators? Let's dive in.
Both Apple and Google have been advocating for shorter digital certificate lifespans to improve security and reliability on the web. The primary reasons behind this push include:
If this proposal moves forward, organizations must prepare for significant changes in how they handle SSL/TLS certificates.
Instead of renewing once a year, certificates would need to be replaced roughly every six weeks—a major shift in workload for companies still managing certificates manually.
Manually managing frequent certificate renewals would be unsustainable. Businesses must invest in automation tools like ACME-based certificate authorities (e.g., Let's Encrypt, Sectigo, or DigiCert automation services) to ensure seamless renewals.
Larger organizations using Extended Validation (EV) or Organization Validation (OV) certificates will need to rethink their strategies, as shorter lifespans increase the burden of compliance and validation processes.
Older systems and enterprise infrastructures that lack support for automated certificate renewals may experience increased downtime risks due to expired certificates.
While shorter SSL lifespans can mean gains in security, they increase manual certificate monitoring. That's exactly why we built ChillSSL - an SSL monitoring dashboard that tracks your certificates, reminds you about expirations and helps maintain overall infrastructure security.
Try ChillSSL today and simplify SSL monitoring!
Solution? Continuous SSL monitoring is the key to preventing silent failures. ChillSSL detects issues before they cost you leads, customers, and rankings.
While this change isn't official yet, proactive businesses should start preparing now by:
An expired or misconfigured SSL certificate doesn't always announce itself with a big red warning. Sometimes, SSL certificates silently fail—causing intermittent issues, broken integrations, or mixed content errors that quietly hurt your website's trustworthiness. Many site owners only notice once customers start complaining—or worse, when leads stop converting.
If Apple enforces the 47-day certificate lifespan, it's likely that Google and Mozilla will follow suit, accelerating the industry shift toward fully automated certificate lifecycle management.
For businesses, the key takeaway is automation is no longer optional—it's essential for staying compliant and secure in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Start preparing now to avoid disruptions, enhance security, and ensure your website stays online without interruptions.