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In February 2020, Apple announced that they would be limiting the allowed lifetime of SSL certificates in their Safari browser from September 1st 2020. The new allowed validity period will be 398 days, which basically amounts to a one-year certificate.

Why the sudden change? Well, there are a number of security benefits to giving shorter lifespans to SSL certificates. It means that SSLs will be issued more frequently, which in turn means that Certificate Authorities will perform checks on website owners more frequently. SSL key rotation will also be more frequent. All this adds up to a more secure, trustworthy SSL certificate.

In June of this year, Google announced they would be following suit for its Chrome browser, and in early July, Mozilla announced that it would be doing the same. It is expected that all major web browsers will soon join them. This means that soon there will be an industry-wide change to the lifespan of SSL certificates issued from September 1st onwards.

This means that SSL certificates issued on or after September 1st, 2020, must have a validity period of less than 398 days or they will not be trusted by Apple’s Safari browser, Google Chrome, or Firefox.

Apple has also stated that any connection with an SSL that violates these new requirements will fail, so beyond stopping websites from loading, it could also impact apps and systems communicating over TLS. To prevent customers from facing potential issues, Certificate Authorities will stop issuing 2-year SSL certificates and start limiting the validity of issued SSLs to 398 days — a 1-year certificate.  

What Does This Mean for pCube & Reseller99 Customers?

Pcube Software Solution SSL certificate customer — will implement this change from August 19, 2020. This means that any SSL purchased from Pcube Software Solution & Reseller 99 and activated on or after August 19th will be issued for a maximum of 398 days.

However, Pcube Software Solution will continue offering SSL certificates of up to five years. SSLs purchased for a longer time period are better value for customers, providing lower yearly prices and protection from industry price increases.

To comply with the new requirements, if you purchase an SSL of up to five years and activate it on August 19th or after, it will need to be reissued and reinstalled on your server annually. We will always send you an email reminder 30 days before it’s time for reissue.