Manual certificate management costs Australian firms over USD $250,000

New survey findings from DigiCert have revealed that manual management of digital certificates is exposing Australian organisations to outages, compliance failures, and substantial financial losses.

The Trust Pulse Survey, conducted by DigiCert, assessed the impact of certificate mismanagement on Australian enterprises amid growing digital transformation and increased regulatory oversight. The survey found that 42.1% of enterprises experienced downtime due to certificate-related incidents in the past year. These incidents have resulted in service disruptions, financial losses, and reputational harm, challenging organisations as they navigate an increasingly complex digital certificate environment.

Manual methods under strain

The survey highlighted that as businesses scale their digital operations, the number and complexity of certificates are outpacing manual management capabilities. This leaves organisations more vulnerable to unexpected outages, compliance issues, and heightened security risks. Changes in regulatory frameworks - including HIPAA, EU DORA, PCI DSS, and Australia's SOCI Act - together with anticipated CA/B Forum rules, are increasing scrutiny of certificate management practices.

Looking ahead, by 2029, major internet browsers are expected to enforce 47-day certificate lifespans, further tightening certificate management requirements. The shift toward quantum-safe algorithms will also challenge existing PKI configurations, compounding the difficulties of manual management processes.

"PKI certificates are the invisible backbone of the world's digital civilization - and when they are mismanaged, the organizations feel it," said Ashley Stevenson, Vice President of Product and Solutions Marketing at DigiCert. "The survey findings make one thing clear: manual approaches can't keep up with the scale, speed, and scrutiny organizations are under today. Enterprises need automation and visibility to reduce risk, maintain compliance, and preserve customer trust. Certificate management is no longer a tactical task - it's a strategic necessity worthy of the same maturity and governance as other foundational disciplines like identity management."

Financial and operational impacts

The study noted that while digital certificates are essential for securing infrastructure, communication, and identity, many organisations still handle them manually or utilise disparate management tools. Of those surveyed, 36.3% specifically linked outages to expired certificates, which remain one of the most avoidable causes of enterprise disruption.

The financial repercussions are significant. Nearly 30% (29.7%) of organisations cited losses between USD $50,000 and USD $250,000 due to certificate-related incidents. Additionally, 14.7% reported losses greater than USD $250,000. Operationally, half of respondents experienced downtime ranging from five to 24 hours, and 10.4% faced disruptions exceeding 25 hours.

Complexity and visibility challenges

The increasing prevalence of certificates is adding to the management challenge. According to the survey, 74.9% of respondents expect the volume of certificates in their organisations to grow within the next two years. Nearly half manage portfolios of between 1,000 and 10,000 certificates each. Despite this, 83.3% of organisations expressed moderate to extreme concern over their ability to track certificate expiration dates, underscoring the limitations of manual oversight and the heightened risk of errors and misconfigurations.

Shifting priorities for business leaders

The survey found that what was once seen as an IT administration issue is now a major concern at the executive level. Chief Information Security Officers and other senior security leaders identified customer trust (86.5%), regulatory compliance (84.9%), and certificate expiration (83.8%) as moderate to extreme concerns. This indicates that digital certificate management has become essential to ensuring operational resilience.

Strategic direction: automation and agility

In response to these challenges, 50.2% of those surveyed identified automated certificate lifecycle management as a top strategic priority for 2025. IoT standardisation followed closely at 40.9%. The findings suggest that organisations which adopt enterprise-wide digital trust initiatives, rather than treating certificate management as a background process, stand to reduce outages, costs, and compliance risks more effectively.

The DigiCert Trust Pulse Survey presents a portrait of Australian organisations grappling with the rising complexity of digital certificates, as manual processes increasingly give way to automation and more comprehensive lifecycle management in the pursuit of digital trust and operational security.