I've known this since last year, but finally the end is near. I've got following email from NameCheap:
Hello Melita,
According to Certificate Authority/Browser (CAB) Forum guidelines, beginning in April 2015, all SSL certificates industry-wide will be limited to a maximum validity of 39 months. As a result of actions taken by Certificate Authorities to comply with these CAB Forum guidelines, Namecheap will disable the ability to order SSL certificates for durations longer than three years by February 26, 2015. This applies to all of our SSL brands: Comodo, Symantec, GeoTrust, Thawte, and RapidSSL.
We recommend that you begin planning to cease the sale of 4- and 5-year certificate products before that date. No changes in the API integration will be necessary from your end to incorporate the change of reissue behavior for the 4- and 5-year SSL certificates.
Here is how this will impact customers:
- If the customer purchases a 4- or 5-year SSL certificate before Feb. 26, 2015 and activates it before the end of the month, the certificate will be issued for the full duration and he/she won't be immediately affected.
- If the customer purchases a 4- or 5-year SSL certificate before Feb. 26, 2015 but fails to activate it before the end of the month, they'll need to contact our Support team to get a refund and purchase a 3-year certificate instead.
- If the customer reissues a 4- or 5-year SSL certificate after March 1, 2015, the reissued certificate will get a maximum validity of no more than 39 months. However, it is possible to reissue again before the 39-month validity period expires, to get the additional months remaining on the SSL.
Please contact Support if you have questions.
Thank you.
Team Namecheap
Not only Namecheap, this update will affect all SSL certificates, including all SSL portfolios of RapidSSL, Comodo, Thawte, Symantec and Geotrust. EV certificates isn't affected as they're already limited to 2 years.
Keep in mind that they shorten this to make security updates more easier. But if you feel lazy to change SSL certificate often, then it's time to act now (only few days left) :p
