This poses an existential risk for enterprises. Sensitive communications, transactions, intellectual property and even national security data protected by current standards could be exposed. Even more concerning, encrypted data intercepted today could be stored and decrypted years from now — once quantum computers are capable — through a ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ strategy.
The promise of post-quantum cryptography
Thankfully, the cybersecurity community is preparing. Researchers are developing post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms designed to withstand quantum attacks. These new methods rely on mathematical problems that remain hard even for quantum systems.
In 2022, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a first group of PQC algorithms for standardization, including lattice-based schemes like CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium.