What happens if the digital certificate has expired?

Having an expired digital certificate can become a serious problem if it is not detected in time. No digital certificate, regardless of its type or country of issue, is valid indefinitely: they are generally valid for two to four years. Some of its users, the most meticulous and organized, mark the exact expiration date on their calendar; however, many tend to resort to this type of file only when they need it, forgetting about it until the next time they need it.

But what happens when the expiration date catches us off guard and we haven’t had time to renew it? In the vast majority of cases, users realize it has expired when they need it, in the middle of an important procedure. Not only do they lose valuable time, but they are also unable to complete the operation or procedure in question. For this reason, in today’s article, we will tell you what happens if your digital certificate has expired and reveal a solution so that you never find yourself in this situation again.

Expired digital certificate: what does it mean?

When you have an expired digital certificate, it will immediately cease to be valid for authenticating or signing digital documents. In other words, you will not lose access to electronic offices and online procedures, nor will you be unable to complete online procedures, such as those involving public administration electronic office platforms or services, documents with private companies, or platforms of any kind.

However, this will not affect the documents you have signed so far, and their reliability will be maintained.

Why does a digital certificate expire?

Digital certificates mainly expire for security reasons and to adapt to technological and regulatory advances. If you think about it, once you apply for your digital certificate and several years have passed, it is likely that several events have taken place that have had an impact on digital security, whatever their nature.

One of the maxims of digital certificates is that encryption keys and methods must be robust. When they expire and have to be renewed, this ensures that they remain robust and are updated to the current context, avoiding possible vulnerabilities, whether due to identity theft attempts by cybercriminals or technological advances.

How do I renew the certificate?

To avoid being left with an expired digital certificate, you must renew it. To do so, you must access the website of the issuing entity, ideally 60 days before the expiration date. Once there, look for the specific label and follow the instructions provided; generally, this involves filling out a form, although they may also ask you to prove your identity. Follow the instructions for identification, renewal application, payment, and finally, download the renewed digital certificate. Verify its validity and that’s it, your digital certificate is now renewed.

If the digital certificate has already expired and you have not been able to renew it on time, you will have to request a new digital certificate as if it were the first time.

I have electronically signed a document: Can the signature expire?

Not necessarily. It is true that some of the tools and methods used to do so have a temporary validity, but the digital signature of a signed document does not expire.

What does expire is the digital certificate used, as you already know, which is responsible for creating a digital signature and acts as its basis; the electronic evidence of the signature may also expire. To avoid this, it is important to know the expiration date of the certificate and to be aware that the date does not pass.

Does your company need a certificate management tool?

Nowadays, having a digital certificate is essential for carrying out online procedures and gaining agility in your day-to-day work. However, with the routine, we tend to forget to keep track of their validity… and often, they end up expiring without anyone noticing.

With our digital certificate manager, Viafirma Fortress, you can securely and automatically control the entire lifecycle of your certificate. You will receive email notifications when its validity is about to expire (30, 7, and 1 days before it happens), and you can use them on each of your devices without installing anything.

You can also add, delete, and revoke all of your organization’s digital certificates from a single control panel. We offer you the possibility to configure their use in an advanced way and authorize or deny access to specific websites, platforms, or applications, either at certain times or by user type.

Ready to make sure your digital certificate expiry never catches you off guard again?