TLS Certificates are shrinking: What the 47-day rule means for your organization

The push for shorter certificate lifespans is not theoretical. It’s being driven by major browser vendors and formalised through the CA/B Forum — the governing body for certificate authorities worldwide.

The rationale is sound: shorter-lived certificates improve security by reducing the window of potential compromise. But the practical impact is immense.

A business managing 3,000 certificates today could soon need to handle over 25,000 renewals annually. Without automation, that’s tens of thousands of extra manual actions — each one a potential point of failure.

TLS certificates are the unsung heroes of secure digital communication. When they expire, applications fail, websites go dark, and transactions grind to a halt.

Under the new model, manual renewal and tracking simply won’t scale.
According to the CyberArk 47-Day Certificate Readiness Report, most organizations still rely on spreadsheets or ticket-based processes.

In a world of short-lived certificates, those methods will buckle — leading to outages, compliance failures, and reputational damage.

Key findings from the research includes:

• 83% of organizations experience at least one certificate-related outage per year.
• 77% believe outages will be inevitable under the new short-lived model.
• 75% fear increased human error as renewal volumes multiply.

This isn’t just a compliance change — it’s a catalyst for modernisation.

ProofID, together with CyberArk Certificate Manager, helps organizations prepare for the 47-day era by automating certificate discovery, renewal, and policy enforcement.

With full lifecycle visibility and automated workflows, you can:

• Identify unmanaged or risky certificates across all environments.
• Renew certificates automatically before expiry.
• Enforce consistent policies and governance.
• Maintain uptime, compliance, and audit readiness with confidence.
• Prepare for quantum computing — automation today enables faster adoption of quantum-safe cryptography tomorrow.

Automation transforms certificate management from a reactive burden into a proactive, scalable process — one that supports both security and business continuity.

The 47-day rule is coming, whether your organization is ready or not. Those who modernise early will enjoy reduced risk, stronger governance, and greater resilience as certificate volumes surge.