It’s time to get serious about post-quantum security. Here’s where to start.
It’s time to get serious about post-quantum security. Here’s where to start.
https://cyberscoop.com/post-quantum-cryptography-pqc-strategy-q-day-security-op-ed/
Publish Date: 2026-03-17 06:02:00
Source Domain: cyberscoop.com
After decades of development, quantum computing is now becoming increasingly available for advanced scientific and commercial use. The potential marvels range from accelerating drug discovery and materials science, to optimizing complex logistics and financial modeling.
But there’s a paradox to this trend: Quantum computing also poses a growing threat to data security.
The risk is that the algorithms and protocols currently used to secure devices, applications and computer systems could eventually be broken by malicious actors using quantum computing, compromising even the strongest security measures. By some estimates, widely used encryption standards such as RSA and ECC could be cracked by quantum computers as soon as 2029—a doomsday known as “Q-Day,” when current security standards would be rendered ineffective by quantum computing’s number-calculating prowess.
The possibility that quantum computing could break today’s data protection protocols is prompting chief security officers and chief technology officers to ramp up countermeasures. They’re doing it with post-quantum cryptography (PQC), a niche area of cybersecurity that is rising in priority across the business world. Lack of preparedness could be costly, with one report putting the potential U.S. economic cost of a quantum attack at more than $3 trillion. Even before that potential calamity, the current average cost of a data breach is upwards of $10 million, and that number will only increase commensurate to the scale of a quantum-induced breach.
That is why the quantum threat should not be treated as a concern only for forward-thinking executives. It must become a board-level issue for every enterprise. Organizations should launch a comprehensive PQC initiative that builds enterprise-wide awareness and updates digital systems and data assets to be resilient against quantum attacks.
Waiting until Q-Day would be mistake because people will not know when it occurs….
