Skip to content

What you need to know about the expiration of keys securing your machine’s boot sequence.

Getty Images

The clock is ticking for Windows and Linux users to update cryptographic keys that protect their systems against firmware-based UEFI infections, a pernicious form of malware that loads before operating system and anti-malware protections start.

Beginning June 24, three certificates that cryptographically verify that each piece of firmware and software that loads during system boot will expire. The Microsoft-signed certificates are the linchpins of Secure Boot, a Microsoft-designed chain of trust. Secure Boot checks the digital signatures of all code that loads during system startup to ensure it originates from a trusted provider, such as the manufacturer of the motherboard the system runs on.