"The bigger problem is in other technologies that use certificates," Kandek says. "So in mail , for example, there might be some malfunction they may not find anymore, where you cannot safely communicate anymore and it might just fail, rather than giving you the option of retrying like the browser does."

Microsoft late last week.

Moving ahead, IT departments are expected to see a much heavier workload. Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle, said that while IT departments "will be smiling for the rest of the month," question marks surround Microsoft's next security updates.

"This does make you wonder what Microsoft has planned for the October patch," Storms says. "Did Microsoft choose to deliver an extremely small patch this month because they have a monster patch in final testing for next month?"

Amol Sarwate, director of vulnerability research at Qualys, downplayed any possibility that Microsoft was holding onto patches for October. However, he did acknowledge that Microsoft's general security update processes indicate a potential spike in patches next month.