![\"Quantum](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0381_639271468674472140.png\")
<\/p>\n\n Current policy wordings may not account for encrypted data stolen today and decrypted years from now\n <\/p>\n
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A global cyber security firm has warned New Zealand organisations to prepare for quantum computing threats that could render current encryption obsolete by 2030, raising questions about whether cyber insurance policies are equipped for the fallout.<\/p>\n
Fortinet senior executives visited New Zealand last week to brief organisations across health, finance, energy, and utilities on the combined risks of AI and quantum computing, as reported by Radio New Zealand (RNZ)<\/a>.<\/p>\n For brokers, the compressed timeline puts a new category of long-tail exposure on the agenda.<\/p>\n How harvest now, decrypt later creates coverage uncertainty<\/p>\n The core concern is a strategy known as Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL). Cyber criminals are collecting encrypted data now with the intention of decrypting it once quantum computing reaches sufficient capability.<\/p>\n Filippo Cassini, senior vice president and global chief technical officer at Fortinet, told RNZ that bad actors were already preparing for what the industry calls Q-Day.<\/p>\n This creates a problem for cyber insurance. Data harvested in 2026 could become a fully realised breach in 2030 or later. Does the policy in force at the time of data theft respond, or the one active when decryption occurs? Brokers advising commercial clients will need to consider how current wordings address that gap.<\/p>\n Duncan Morrison, cyber practice leader at Aon<\/a> New Zealand in Auckland, has previously noted the importance of boards understanding their financial exposure from cyber events. \u201cWithout that financial lens, cyber risk can be underestimated or deprioritised,\u201d Morrison said, as previously reported by Insurance Business<\/a>. The quantum dimension adds a new layer to that calculus.<\/p>\n Wei Ling Neo, vice president of product management at Fortinet, said investment had shortened the quantum timeline. \u201c(It) has been shortened by a lot of investments into quantum computing, which has brought the timeline much closer to 29 and 2030, for when we will have a viable quantum computer that will be able to decrypt the current algorithms that we use,\u201d Neo said.<\/p>\n