Google Calls on Governments And Industry to Prepare Now For Quantum-Era Cybersecurity
Google Calls on Governments And Industry to Prepare Now For Quantum-Era Cybersecurity
Publish Date: 2026-02-06 19:10:00
Source Domain: thequantuminsider.com
Insider Brief
- Google is urging governments and industry to accelerate adoption of post-quantum cryptography, warning that advances in quantum computing could soon undermine the encryption that secures today’s digital systems.
- The company says it has been preparing for a post-quantum world since 2016, rolling out quantum-resistant protections across its infrastructure while aligning its migration plans with NIST standards finalized in 2024.
- Google calls on policymakers to drive society-wide momentum through cloud modernization, global alignment on standards, and closer engagement with quantum experts to avoid security surprises.
One of the global leaders in quantum computing is urging governments, companies and critical infrastructure operators to accelerate preparations for the quantum computing era, warning that today’s encryption systems could be broken sooner than many expect and outlining the company’s own commitments to post-quantum security.
The call to action comes in a new Google blog post by Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, and Hartmut Neven, founder and lead of Google Quantum AI. The executives write that quantum computing as both a transformative scientific tool and a looming cybersecurity risk. According to the authors, the same machines expected to drive advances in drug discovery, materials science and energy could also undermine the public-key cryptography that protects financial transactions, private communications and classified data.
“To put that plainly: The encryption currently used to keep your information confidential and secure could easily be broken by a large-scale quantum computer in coming years,” they write.
And while such a cryptographically relevant quantum computer does not yet exist, malicious actors are unlikely to wait. Instead, they are expected to be carrying out “store now, decrypt later” attacks, harvesting encrypted data today in anticipation of…
