How Long is a SSL Certificate Valid?

Updated - from September 2020 onwards, SSLs certificates cannot be issued for more than 13 months (397 days to be precise). The shorter lifespan of the SSL will have two primary benefits-

First, the updates and changes can be rolled out more frequently.

Second, the shorter span of SSLs will make it more secure because the associated websites will need to produce documents of authenticity more often.

SSL certificate duration over the years

The SSL provider have long since rejected the 48 month-long certificated and have been continuously tinkering with how long SSL certificates last.

A few years back, an SSL lasted more than 4 years before you would need to renew it.

It needs to be noted that the validity period of SSL certificates was for 48 months and the same was reduced as per the guidelines that was later rolled out. As agreed by all parties of The Certificate Authorities and Browser vendors (CAB forum) agreed that the validity of SSL certificates should be decreased. The involved parties then agreed to make it 39 months. Since then, whenever they have met, SSLs have had their validity reduced. The period of validity, they said, was reduced to enhance the security aspects of these certificates.

The actual validity period of an SSL certificate that was purchased after 1st April 2015 was for three years and additional three months were granted as an additional warranty on certificates that then existed. It should be noted that all SSL certificates have unlimited re-issuing facility.

For how long was SSL valid if someone applied for re-issue?

In case an SSL was applied for a re-issue with remaining period of validity exceeding 13 months, the total available validity will be kept at 13 months by reducing the available validity.

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