* Ars Technica article
Windows’ original Secure Boot certificates expire in June—here’s what you need to do
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/microsoft-sounds-the-alarm-about-secure-boot-certificates-expiring-later-this-year/
# Part of the content was translated from Gemini 3.0 Flash and then modified.
Windows 8 is famous for its touch-centric, unique full-screen Start menu, but there were also many improvements under the hood.
One notable example is UEFI Secure Boot, a security feature that verifies and prevents the execution of unverified software on the PC boot loader.
While Secure Boot was only recommended in Windows 8 and 10, it became a mandatory system requirement with the release of Windows 11 in 2021. Secure Boot has been verifying boot loaders with the same security certificate since Windows 8 development in 2011, but Microsoft recently announced that these certificates will expire in June and October of this year.
https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2026/02/10/refreshing-the-root-of-trust-industry-collaboration-on-secure-boot-certificate-updates/
Nuno Costa, program manager for Windows Service and Delivery at Microsoft, explained that "as long as devices receive new Secure Boot certificates before the 2011 certificate expires, PCs will continue to function normally and existing software will continue to run."
"However," he added, "devices will be in a degraded security state and may face limitations in receiving protection measures during the boot stage. If new vulnerabilities are discovered in the boot process, these systems will no longer be able to install updates to address them, making them increasingly vulnerable. Over time, compatibility issues may also arise, such as the inability to load the latest operating system, firmware, hardware, or software that relies on Secure Boot."
Microsoft provides updated certificates through Windows updates for most systems, including older ones whose manufacturer support has ended. If you are using a supported version of Windows with Secure Boot enabled and have installed all the latest patches, this transition should be smooth, and you may already be using the new certificate without realizing it.
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* This is a tweet from the Windows Update Twitter (X) account.
https://x.com/WindowsUpdate/status/2021289411443556469
