Dear Valued Customer,

We are writing to inform you of an important update affecting the validity period of public TLS certificates issued through DigiCert — one of the world’s leading Certificate Authorities — that may impact how you manage your digital certificates.

What’s Changing?

On February 24, 2026, CAs will begin to issue TLS/SSL certificates for a maximum validity of 199 days (down from 397 days).

This change to shorter validity is an industry-wide requirement mandated by new CA/Browser Forum baseline requirements. The goal is to improve security by limiting the impact of compromised keys and enabling faster cryptographic updates as threats and standards evolve.

CA Cutoff Dates:

• DigiCert - February 24, 2026
• Sectigo - March 14, 2026*

Handling Shorter Certificates

At Visual Idea Network, we actively manage your SSL certificate lifecycle for you through automated systems and monitoring.

Here’s how we help:

 Automated renewals — We track certificate expiration and handle renewals before they expire.

 New key reminders — When new private keys are required, we notify you clearly and in advance.

 No downtime protection — Our process is designed to prevent service disruption caused by expired certificates.

 Timely notifications — You’ll receive reminders and instructions when any action is needed on your side.

Because of this automation and monitoring, shorter certificate validity does not increase your workload — it simply means we renew certificates more frequently behind the scenes to maintain strong security.

What Does This Mean for You?

• New public TLS certificates ordered and issued from 24 February 2026 onward will have a maximum validity of 199 days.

• Existing certificates issued before this date with longer validity will remain trusted until their normal expiration.

• Reissues or duplicates of certificates processed on or after this date will also be capped at 199 days.

Why This Matters
Shorter certificate validity reduces the risk of compromised keys being exploited long-term and encourages modern, automated approaches to certificate renewal — which is especially important as industry requirements continue evolving.

If you have any questions or need assistance adjusting to the new certificate validity policy, please reach out — we’re here to help.

Thank you for your continued partnership.

Best regards,
Visual Idea Network