{"id":18572,"date":"2025-06-02T16:44:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T20:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/?p=18572"},"modified":"2025-06-02T16:44:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T20:44:19","slug":"ssl-monitoring-takes-center-stage-lets-encrypt-abandons-ssl-expiration-notifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/ssl-monitoring-takes-center-stage-lets-encrypt-abandons-ssl-expiration-notifications\/","title":{"rendered":"Monitoring Should Take Center Stage as Let\u2019s Encrypt Abandons SSL Expiration Notifications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-let-s-encrypt-will-stop-sending-ssl-tls-expiration-emails-effective-june-4-now-s-the-time-to-ensure-you-have-ssl-monitoring-and-alerts-set-up\">Let\u2019s Encrypt will stop sending SSL\/TLS expiration emails effective June 4 \u2014 now\u2019s the time to ensure you have SSL monitoring and alerts set up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/letsencrypt.org\/2025\/01\/22\/ending-expiration-emails\/\"><strong>Let&#8217;s Encrypt (LE) announced earlier this year<\/strong><\/a><strong> that it would discontinue SSL\/TLS expiration notification emails on Wednesday, June 4. <\/strong>That&#8217;s just <strong><em>two days<\/em><\/strong> from now, so now\u2019s the time to be sure that you have the systems in place to help keep your certificate management on track once it\u2019s \u201cgo time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if you\u2019re using automation to keep your certificate renewed and updated (that\u2019s good!), you\u2019re not 100% home free. The unfortunate reality is that certificate renewal cron jobs\/automated tasks can and do fail (online forums are rife with examples), leaving sites down due to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/what-happens-when-your-ssl-certificate-expires\/\">expired SSL\/TLS certificate<\/a>. Fortunately, there are some simple solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, what does all of this mean for Let\u2019s Encrypt users, and what options are there for monitoring your SSL\/TLS security?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s hash it out.<span id=\"newline\"><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<span style=\"--tl-form-height-m:150.25px;--tl-form-height-t:121.4583px;--tl-form-height-d:121.4583px;\" class=\"tl-placeholder-f-type-shortcode_12753 tl-preload-form\"><span><\/span><\/span>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tl-dr-a-15-second-overview-of-what-s-happening\">TL;DR: A 15-Second Overview of What\u2019s Happening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Let\u2019s Encrypt will eliminate certificate expiry notifications starting Wednesday (June 4, 2025).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Let\u2019s Encrypt users should be sure they have another system in place for monitoring and alerting them to expiring certificates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Automation + monitoring work together to avoid certificate-related outages and downtime.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-let-s-encrypt-s-change-means-for-your-organization\">What Let\u2019s Encrypt\u2019s Change Means for Your Organization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>If you use any Let\u2019s Encrypt certificates<\/strong>: instead of relying on cron jobs alone to keep you out of the certificate expiration doghouse, set up certificate monitoring as an extra layer of protection to alert you before your certificates expire. In the email announcing this change, Let\u2019s Encrypt suggested that users \u201cSign up for a third-party monitoring service that may provide expiration emails\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>If you\u2019re not using any Let\u2019s Encrypt certificates:<\/strong> This change won\u2019t affect you directly. However, you\u2019ll still benefit from taking this opportunity to set up monitoring and alerting for your certificates (if you haven\u2019t already).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lets-encrypt-email-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"A snippet from a Let's Encrypt email informing customers that the CA would no longer issue certificate expiration notices starting June 4, 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-18574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lets-encrypt-email-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lets-encrypt-email-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lets-encrypt-email-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lets-encrypt-email-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lets-encrypt-email.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Image caption: A screenshot from a notification email from Let\u2019s Encrypt, informing users that its certificate expiration feature is being discontinued by June 4, 2025.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Automation + Monitoring Is the Next Step in SSL Security<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In truth, certificate lifecycle automation is where the industry has been headed for the better part of the last decade. This is due, at least in part, to the movement toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/47-day-ssl-certificate-validity-by-2029\/\">shorter certificate validity<\/a>. And the reasons for that shift to automation are entirely understandable&#8230; at least, to a certain extent:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>By forcing shorter validity and automating certificate reissuance and renewals, it means each key is in use for less time.<\/strong> Ideally, this would reduce the risk of exposure stemming from a compromised key.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Automation dramatically increases the ability of the internet as a whole to respond to threats and stay ahead of security vulnerabilities.<\/strong> This is especially important with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/quantum-resistant-encryption-why-its-critical-to-future-cybersecurity\/\">quantum computing threats<\/a> on the horizon and issues like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/harvest-now-decrypt-later-hndl\/\">harvest now, decrypt later attacks<\/a> happening now.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Automation can reduce the likelihood of downtime from expired certificates.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But just automating SSL certificate installation and renewal isn\u2019t quite enough\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>SSL monitoring <\/strong>\u2014 having a way to know in advance when your certificates will expire or if there\u2019s another SSL\/TLS issue with your site \u2014 is just as, if not more, important than shorter lifespans and automation. After all, installing SSL certificates on your site won\u2019t help if they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>improperly installed or configured;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>expired because the renewal cron job silently failed;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>relying on outdated libraries, ciphers, or protocols; or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>causing other SSL-related issues for your site.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gain Visibility of Certificate Expirations &amp; Vulnerabilities with SSL Monitor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TheSSLstore.com is proud to offer <a href=\"https:\/\/certpanel.com\/ssl-monitor\">SSL Monitor<\/a>, an automated monitoring solution that helps you prevent certificate-related outages and issues. This tool monitors your domain(s) and subdomain(s) for certificate expirations and 110+ SSL\/TLS vulnerabilities, including configuration errors and other issues that impact security and availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-central-palette-2-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/certpanel.com\/ssl-monitor\" style=\"display: block; width: 50%; border-radius:3px;color:#ffffff\">Get SSL Monitor<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"379\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ssl-monitor-screenshot-1024x379.jpg\" alt=\"An example SSL Monitor dashboard illustration that shows a snippet of the vulnerabilities it helps you identify and mitigate on your domain(s)\" class=\"wp-image-18573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ssl-monitor-screenshot-1024x379.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ssl-monitor-screenshot-300x111.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ssl-monitor-screenshot-768x284.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ssl-monitor-screenshot-1536x568.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ssl-monitor-screenshot.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s Encrypt will stop sending SSL\/TLS expiration emails effective June 4 \u2014 now\u2019s the time to ensure you have SSL monitoring and alerts set up Let&#8217;s Encrypt (LE) announced earlier&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":18575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[13107,17],"tags":[180,145,5410],"class_list":["post-18572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-hashed-out","category-industry-lowdown","tag-expiration","tag-lets-encrypt","tag-ssl-expiration","post-with-tags"],"views":4011,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/certificate-automation-lets-encrypt-feature-v2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}