How to Automate Your Security Posture for the 47-Day Certificate Era

Let’s take a look at what’s changing.

• A certificate you had previously renewed annually will now require renewal approximately eight times per year (~ every 47 days).

• Domain validation, once an annual task, will have to be done every 10 days.

• The margin for error and outages gets dramatically smaller because the window to detect and remediate issues shrinks from months to just days.

Without robust automation, organizations will face increased outages, security vulnerabilities, and compliance issues. According to a Keyfactor study, certificate-related outages already cost enterprises an average of US$15.3 million annually. That figure will multiply without proper preparation.

A global financial services firm I worked with successfully prepared for this shortened certificate lifecycle through a comprehensive transformation. The firm started with more than 50,000 certificates that they managed through manual processes, facing frequent outages and security concerns.

Through a methodical approach involving discovery, automation, integration, and governance, the financial services firm was able to:

• Reduce certificate-related outages by 98%

• Cut certificate issuance time from days to minutes

• Establish cryptographic agility across critical systems

• Integrate fully with Zero Trust initiatives

For the financial institution, this transformation fundamentally changed how the firm viewed and managed digital trust. By shifting from manual, reactive processes to a fully automated, policy-driven approach, they turned certificate management from a recurring risk into a strategic advantage.

Their experience shows that organizations that act early not only mitigate the operational risks of shorter certificate lifecycles but also build a more resilient and agile security posture that will carry them reliably into the 47-day certificate era.

The CA/Browser Forum's SC-081v3 will shrink certificate validity to a mere 47 days, so organizations will need to implement robust automation, apply instrumentation, and embrace cryptographic agility — all while integrating certificate management into a broader security strategy.

To help you do all those things, I’ve created a quick guide to improving your security posture in preparation for the 47-day era.

Let’s start by implementing the four pillars of certificate automation.

1. Automate the lifecycle

2. Move to API-based certificate procurement

3. Integrate with infrastructure as code for certificate deployment

4. Monitor and validate continuously

Automate the lifecycle 

Start with an enterprise-grade certificate lifecycle automation platform. Modern certificate management platforms offer comprehensive capabilities that transform manual, error-prone processes into streamlined, policy-driven workflows.

A good certificate lifecycle automation platform provides:

• Continuous certificate discovery and inventory

• Automated certificate provisioning and deployment

• Proactive renewal management

• Streamlined revocation handling

• Compliance reporting and auditing

Move to API-based certificate procurement

Transition all certificate procurement to API-based methods. Most certificate authorities (CAs) now support the Automatic Certificate Management Environment (ACME), popularized by Let's Encrypt. This protocol allows secure and seamless certificate operations.

API-based certificate procurement allows you to:

• Integrate ACME clients for automated validation and issuance

• Connect RESTful APIs with commercial CAs

• Implement webhooks for event-driven processes

• Develop custom integrations for legacy systems

Resources for API-based certificate management include:

• Let's Encrypt ACME Client Implementations

• From Manual to Modern: Practical Steps to Automate Your PKI at Scale

Integrate with infrastructure as code for certificate deployment

Incorporate certificate management into your infrastructure as code (IaC) practices.

Managing certificates using code-enabled resources dramatically improves consistency and auditability.

IaC capabilities include:

• Provisioning certificates using Terraform modules to ensure consistent deployment across environments

• Automating certificate rotation with Ansible playbooks to minimize manual effort and human error

• Streamlining approvals and deployments with GitOps workflows that fit your existing DevOps practices

• Integrating certificate management into CI/CD pipelines to ensure reliable release cycles

Useful resources include:

• Terraform ACME Certificate and Account Provider

• Ansible Community Documentation

• Managing Certificates Using GitOps Approach

Monitor and validate continuously

Implement real-time certificate monitoring across your environment. With shrinking certificate lifecycles, proactive monitoring will be mission critical.

Continuous monitoring and validation allow you to:

• Monitor certificate transparency logs to detect unauthorized or unexpected certificates 

• Enable multichannel alerts to warn of upcoming expirations proactively 

• Conduct automatic validation and configuration checks to catch errors before they impact users 

• Track revocation status in real time to ensure only trusted certificates remain active

Monitoring solutions to consider include:

• Keyfactor Command

• CyberArk Certificate Management

• Qualys SSL Labs

• crt.sh Certificate Search

Now, we can move on to enhancing security. The transition to shorter certificate lifecycles creates an opportunity to strengthen overall security. Here's how:

• Develop a cryptographic agility strategy

• Integrate Zero Trust architecture

• Implement certificate transparency and governance

• Develop incident response for certificate compromises

Develop a cryptographic agility strategy

Develop a cryptographic agility strategy to facilitate algorithm transitions.

With the industry moving from RSA encryption toward elliptic curve cryptography (particularly P-384), organizations need to do the following to adapt quickly:

• Document all cryptographic implementations across your organization

• Configure systems to support multiple algorithms simultaneously

• Establish clear migration pathways and testing frameworks

• Create timelines for deprecating outdated cryptographic methods

Resources for crypto agility include:

• NIST SP 800-57: Recommendation for Key Management

• NSA Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite 2.0

• Microsoft Security Briefs — Cryptographic Agility 

Integrate Zero Trust architecture

Use certificates as a cornerstone of Zero Trust security architecture.

The increased frequency of certificate validation aligns perfectly with the following Zero Trust principles:

• Expand certificate use for user and device authentication

• Deploy mutual TLS (mTLS) for all internal service communications

• Tie access controls to certificate attributes

• Implement just-in-time certificate issuance

Helpful Zero Trust resources include:

• NIST SP 800-207: Zero Trust Architecture

• Istio Mutual TLS Migration

• SPIFFE/SPIRE for workload identity

Implement certificate transparency and governance

Implement comprehensive governance around certificate issuance and use.

These improved visibility and control strategies enhance security:

• Develop detailed policies for certificate types, algorithms, and key lengths

• Establish clear guidelines for which CAs can be used

• Actively monitor certificate transparency logs for unauthorized certificates

• Implement fine-grained control over certificate requests and approvals

Certificate governance resources include:

• Certificate Transparency overview

• Google CertificateTransparency GitHub page

• Apple certificate transparency policy

Develop incident response for certificate compromises

Develop specific incident response procedures for certificate-related events.

As certificates become more dynamic, you must adapt incident response to:

• Establish clear procedures for emergency certificate revocation

• Develop capabilities for rapid certificate rotation

• Prepare stakeholder communications for certificate incidents

• Regularly practice certificate compromise scenarios

The 47-day certificate era is coming, whether we're ready or not. Organizations that view this change as a strategic opportunity rather than just a compliance burden will gain a significant advantage.

By investing in robust automation, governance, and integration, forward-thinking companies will establish digital trust at scale, creating a competitive edge in an increasingly security-conscious market.

• TLS Certificate Lifetimes Will Officially Reduce to 47 Days

• NIST: Guidelines for the Selection, Configuration, and Use of Transport Layer Security TLS Implementations