Essential SSL Certificate Validity Facts to Protect Sites

Originally published at https://monstermegs.com/blog/ssl-certificate-validity/ Every SSL certificate running on a one-year renewal cycle is already out of step with the industry. Since March 15, 2026, the rules around SSL certificate validity changed permanently – the maximum allowed lifetime dropped from 398 days to 200 days. That is only the first cut in a four-phase plan that ends with 47-day certificates by 2029. The CA/Browser Forum, the body that governs publicly trusted TLS certificates, passed Ballot SC-081 with unanimous support from Apple, Google, and Mozilla. The vote is now reshaping how every website manages HTTPS. What the SSL Certificate Validity Cut Actually Means For most site owners, a one-year SSL certificate felt like a reasonable renewal cycle. Set a calendar reminder, generate a new cert, move on. That workflow is finished. The SSL certificate validity window is now capped at 200 days, meaning manual renewal teams must revisit the process nearly twice a year. By M