Can Digital Trust Survive the Quantum Era?

You may not think about digital certificates every day. But at Sectigo, that’s their full-time focus. Whether it's keeping critical systems running on Windows XP or ensuring that a Tesla operates smoothly with nine different certificates, the stakes are high, even if most users never notice.

Sectigo, now in its 24th year, sits at the center of a fast-evolving digital ecosystem. In a recent interview, CEO Kevin Weiss and Sarabjeet Singh Khurana discussed what lies ahead as certificate lifecycles shorten, AI systems evolve, and quantum computing looms as a potential disruptor.

This is more than cybersecurity. It’s a glimpse into the infrastructure of the future and what Indian enterprises must prepare for today.

From Legacy Infrastructure to Resilient Security

India’s tech landscape is a mix of extremes. On one end, some companies still rely on legacy systems running Windows XP, software that even Microsoft has long stopped supporting. On the other, the same organizations are handling sensitive data and mission-critical workloads.

Sectigo supports these environments not by forcing modernization, but by ensuring backward compatibility. It’s a strategic decision. Older Linux distributions are also in use, particularly where hardware limitations make lighter OS footprints preferable.

Maintaining digital certificates on outdated platforms may not seem glamorous, but it's crucial to ensure continuity in complex and resource-limited environments.

Certificates Are Becoming Subscriptions

Not long ago, you could purchase a digital certificate valid for over a year. That’s changing rapidly.

Due to shifting industry regulations, certificate lifespans have dropped from 398 days to 90. Today, 47-day certificates are becoming standard, and some providers are already moving to 10-day cycles.

Shorter lifespans aren’t arbitrary, they reduce the window of vulnerability in the event of a breach. The model is evolving from a one-time purchase to a recurring subscription. Sectigo’s Partner Platform reflects this shift, offering:

• One-time purchases

• Subscription-based certificates

• Fully managed certificate services

Managed services are growing fast, especially in India, where digital ecosystems are expanding and becoming more complex.

India as a Strategic Innovation Hub

Sectigo’s relationship with India goes far beyond sales. One of its flagship platforms, used globally to monitor and secure websites, was largely built by its team in India.

This isn't traditional outsourcing. It represents core product innovation. As global compliance demands increase and certificate renewal cycles shorten, India is playing a foundational role in scaling these solutions.

Preparing for the Quantum Computing Era

Quantum computing isn’t science fiction anymore. When quantum machines become capable of real-world decryption, today’s encryption standards, like RSA and ECC, will no longer hold up.

Sectigo is already investing in post-quantum cryptographic solutions to protect against this scenario. Several governments have set timelines for quantum readiness. While the deadlines are approaching, many organizations have yet to take the first step.

Being late to quantum-readiness could have significant security consequences.

The Cloud-Native Engine Behind Modern Security

Several years ago, Sectigo launched a cloud-native certificate automation platform. Built to be scalable and vendor-agnostic, it supports:

• Public certificates

• Private infrastructure

• Hybrid deployments

Automation isn’t just for large enterprises. Smaller organizations benefit too, especially as the number of certificates per device continues to rise. For example, an iPhone may carry over a dozen certificates. A Tesla has nine. An Airbus A380 has more than 100, reissued after every flight.

Manual certificate management simply isn’t viable at this scale.

Beyond Encryption: Building Zero Trust Architecture

Sectigo’s infrastructure is encrypted end-to-end. The company also maintains a dedicated internal research group focused on continuously hardening certificate issuance and validation processes.

Despite these efforts, most certificates are issued for free and default to a 90-day lifespan. This strategy isn’t just cost-effective, it’s part of a broader move toward ultra-short-lived and even single-use certificates.

These aren't temporary measures. They’re part of building long-term resilience into the digital backbone.

Making Global Compliance Easier

Regulatory frameworks like India’s DPDPA, Europe’s DORA, and the United States’ NIST are turning cybersecurity compliance into an ongoing challenge for enterprises.

Sectigo addresses this by offloading compliance responsibilities through managed services. Customers receive audit-ready reports, reducing the internal burden.

For Indian businesses navigating the early stages of digital compliance, this can be a crucial support system.

Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) Becomes a Necessity

Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools are evolving into mission-critical infrastructure.

A modern CLM system helps organizations:

• Discover all digital certificates

• Monitor their health and expiry

• Automate renewal, revocation, and upgrades

This capability will be essential in a post-quantum world. When algorithms change, enterprises will need fast, system-wide certificate updates. Surprisingly, many companies don’t even have visibility into how many certificates they currently use.

Discovery is always the first step.

AI-Driven Security for an AI-Driven World

AI is transforming Sectigo’s internal operations, particularly in marketing and software development. But future applications are even more impactful.

The rise of agentic AI—autonomous AI systems that create and manage other AI agents—is introducing a new layer of complexity. These agents must communicate securely, often across different systems and platforms.

Sectigo is building orchestration layers designed to enable secure, scalable certificate management for these autonomous networks. As agentic AI scales, certificate automation will become a fundamental security layer.

What Indian Enterprises Must Prioritize Now

The shift to 47-day certificates is already underway. Here’s how Indian organizations can prepare:

• Implement a CLM system: Start tracking and managing digital assets.

• Conduct certificate discovery: Identify where certificates are deployed.

• Plan for post-quantum encryption: Adopt forward-looking algorithms.

• Empower security teams: Provide tools before a crisis hits.

The focus is no longer on fear-driven security. It’s about readiness—measured, proactive, and strategic.

Certificates Are the New Digital Infrastructure

Digital certificates may seem like backend utilities, but they are becoming central to digital trust. From powering AI communication to enabling post-quantum resilience, certificates are more than a line item in a compliance checklist, they are the infrastructure for the future.

Sectigo isn’t predicting what’s next. It’s building security frameworks for a future already taking shape.

And for Indian businesses, adaptation is not optional, it’s urgent. The clock is ticking, and your certificates are, too.