Important Update: SSL Certificate Validity Changes Coming March 2026

Dear WernerHost Clients,

We want to keep you informed about an important industry-wide change to SSL/TLS certificates that will affect renewals for Comodo PositiveSSL (now Sectigo PositiveSSL) products.

What's Changing? The CA/Browser Forum (the group that sets rules for certificate authorities and browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge) has approved reductions in maximum certificate validity periods for enhanced security. This means certificates will expire sooner, requiring more frequent renewals/re-issuances.

Key timeline:

• Until March 12–15, 2026: Certificates can be issued for up to 398 days (~13 months) — your current setup.
• Starting March 12, 2026 (Sectigo enforcement date): Maximum validity drops to 199–200 days (~6.5 months).
• Further reductions are planned: 100 days in 2027, then 47 days by 2029.

How This Affects Your Comodo PositiveSSL Your existing certificates will remain fully valid until their current expiration date — no action is needed right now, and nothing breaks.

When renewing after mid-March 2026:

• New certificates will be valid for approximately 200 days (about 6.5 months).
• To maintain continuous coverage for a full year, you'll need to renew/re-issue roughly twice per year.
• Our pricing stays $35.88 per year — no increases. We'll handle the extra re-issuance steps on our end to keep your sites secure without extra cost or hassle.

What We're Doing We're updating automation in WHMCS and cPanel to make renewals as seamless as possible. If you have many domains, enable auto-renewal in your client area to minimize manual work.

Next Steps No immediate action required — this only impacts new/renewed certificates after the change date. We'll send reminders closer to March 2026 and assist with any transitions.

If you have questions, call, email or open a support ticket.

Thank you for choosing WernerHost — we're here to make this smooth and keep your sites secure.

Best regards, Justin Werner WernerHost Team