The digital certificate is the backbone of online trust, but a dramatic shift is coming. On April 11, 2025, the CA/Browser Forum passed a ballot to reduce the maximum validity of SSL/TLS certificates to just 47 days by 2029. The proposal from Apple aims to tighten security in an era of escalating cyber threats. For businesses, however, it signals a pressing need to overhaul certificate management practices—or risk operational chaos.

Phased Implementation Timeline
The reduction will occur in stages to allow gradual adaptation:
March 15, 2026: Maximum validity drops to 200 days.
March 15, 2027: Further reduced to 100 days.
March 15, 2029: Final cap at 47 days.
This phased approach reflects industry efforts to balance security improvements with operational feasibility. Major stakeholders, including Sectigo have endorsed the proposal, emphasizing its alignment with long-term cyber security goals.

Why the Change?
The 47-day mandate isn't arbitrary. 
1.Security Enhancements:
1)Minimizes exposure to compromised certificates (attack window reduced from months to weeks).
2)Addresses limitations of traditional revocation methods (CRL/OCSP).
2.Industry Alignment: Backed by major browsers (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla) and CAs (DigiCert, GlobalSign), signaling a unified push for stronger security.

What This Means for Your Business
If your website, apps, or online services use SSL certificates (and they should), this change will affect you by:
→ Requiring certificate renewals every 47 days (instead of once a year)
→ Increasing IT workload with 8x more renewals to manage
→ Raising outage risks if certificates expire accidentally

Besides changing the lifespans of certificates validity, the ballot also modifies the reuse periods of  validation data for your organization and domain/IP addresses. 
→ Domain/IP Address Validation
Current reuse period: 398 days (pre-March 15, 2026)
Phased reductions:
200 days (post-March 15, 2026)
100 days (post-March 15, 2027)
10 days (post-March 15, 2029)
→ Organization Validation (OV/EV Certificates)
Current reuse period: 825 days (for certificates issued before March 15, 2026)
New reuse period: 398 days (for certificates issued after March 15, 2026)
In summary, existing multi-year certificates issued before March 15, 2026 will remain unaffected, while new certificates issued on or after that date must comply with the updated policy. Under the new policy, certificate holders must revalidate their domain/IP or organizational identity more frequently. 
Note: Actual implementation timelines may vary.

Steps to Prepare Now
1.Inventory Your Certificates
Use discovery tools to map all certificates across cloud, on-prem, and edge environments.
2.Implement Automated Certificate Lifecycle Management
Manual processes won't scale - you'll need:
Automatic renewal before expiration
Centralized visibility across all environments
Seamless deployment to load balancers, CDNs, and servers

How Nicsrs CLM Solves This Challenge
The only viable solution is automation. Manual processes simply won't scale to handle renewals every 47 days. That's why smart businesses are switching to automated certificate management.
Nicsrs CLM makes this easy by:
Auto-renewing certificates before they expire
Managing all certificates in one dashboard
Working with all major providers(Sectigo, DigiCert, etc.)
Preventing website outages with smart alerts

Conclusion: Act Now to Stay Secure
The 47-day validity mandate is not just a policy change—it's a call to modernize your security infrastructure. By leveraging tools like the NICSRS CLM Platform, businesses can turn this challenge into an opportunity to strengthen their defenses while minimizing disruptions.
Pro Tip: Start testing automation tools today to ensure a smooth transition by 2026. The clock is ticking!
For more insights on certificate management best practices, explore our CLM solutions at NICSRS.