Manual certificate management is on its last legs in 2023. Before 2015, IT teams had the luxury of time on their side – once you issued a certificate, you didn’t have to worry about it for the next 5 years. That window was cut short to 3 years in 2015, then 2 years in 2018, and finally to just 13 months in 2020.
Now, Google has announced its plans to reduce the validity of SSL/TLS certificates to just 90 days. Once the new system comes into force sometime in 2024, the certificate tracking and management workload will immediately quadruple.
Everything, from buying certificates to their proper configuration, installation, and validity tracking, will have to be done not once, but four times every year. In this scenario, switching from manual to automated certificate management is the only smart move for a plethora of reasons.
Improve IT Team Efficiency
Network administrators are the ones who will bear the brunt of additional workload due to increased certificate validation requirements. Automation in business works best in repetitive, routine, and predictable tasks. Certificate management fits that definition.
A modern certificate manager platform can lift the entire TLS/SSL certificate management burden away from your IT staff. They no longer worry about keeping tabs on SSL certificate expiry dates. The automated certificate manager will keep all your public and private digital certificates up-to-date.
Organizations with a certificate lifecycle management system enjoy greater productivity and efficiency, particularly in the IT departments. Network professionals have more time to handle vital aspects of IT security in your business.
Reduce Unplanned Downtime
Even in smaller companies and businesses across many sectors, unplanned downtime due to network failure comes at a cost. According to the Harvard Business School, downtime affects nearly 78% of American workers, costing their employers $100 billion annually.
An expired certificate can crash an organization’s IT system, leaving employees unable to access their office systems. With a four-fold increase in certificate expiry dates, the risk of such costly outages will increase significantly IF you don’t invest in an Automated Certificate Management System today.
With the rise of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and IOT, certificate management within an organization has become a lot more complex. You need scalable PKI management platforms with dedicated IoT security tools to negotiate this hazardous landscape.
Avoid Client-Side Disruptions
The gravest threat from expired certificates is to an organization’s client-side operations. Even big corporations like O2, Softbank, Microsoft, Cisco, and Starlink have all suffered significant disruptions in operations due to expired SSL/TLS certificates.
Modern browsers will flat-out refuse to connect with a website that does not pass the standard TLS handshake process. If you are an eCommerce or SaaS business, the warning signs flashed by browsers can lead to a loss of sales and damage your brand equity.
Apart from basic PKI management to prevent these mishaps, a competent certificate management platform will also provide other security features. These can include email encryption, eIDAS compliance, and PCI DSS compliance.
Manage All Your Enterprise Lifecycle Management Needs in One Place
If your organization has yet to jump to automated certificate management, time is running out to make your websites and IT networks future-proof. Sectigo offers a comprehensive array of enterprise-grade PKI management solutions. To learn more about the features of our Automated Certificate Management System, contact the Sectigo sales team today.
