A method includes receiving a request from a certificate user to utilize a short-term private key-public key pair. The short-term private key-public key pair includes a short-term private key and a public key. The short-term private key may expire after a period less than a year in length. The method further includes generating, using a processor, the short-term private key and generating, using the processor, the public key. The method further includes requesting a public key certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA). The method also includes receiving the public key certificate from the CA and pairing the short-term private key with the public key certificate. The public key certificate may include the public key that corresponds to the short-term private key. The method further includes storing the short-term private key-public key pair to a storage.