Platform — Post-Quantum Computing
Post-Quantum Computing:
The Threat Your Encryption Wasn't Built For
Quantum computers will break the cryptography protecting today's global infrastructure, trade, and data. The question is not if — it's when.
The Technology
What Is Post-Quantum Computing?
Classical computers process information in binary — ones and zeros. Quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits) that can exist in multiple states simultaneously through a property called superposition. Combined with entanglement, this allows quantum machines to solve certain mathematical problems exponentially faster than any classical computer.
The problem: the mathematical problems that quantum computers excel at solving are the exact same problems that underpin today's public-key cryptography — RSA, ECC, and Diffie-Hellman. These algorithms protect everything from HTTPS connections to financial transactions to government communications.
Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) refers to cryptographic algorithms designed to be secure against both classical and quantum computers. NIST finalized the first post-quantum standards in 2024. The migration window is open — but it is closing.
RSA & ECC Will Be Broken
The algorithms protecting today's internet — RSA-2048, ECC, Diffie-Hellman — will be broken by a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor's algorithm.
"Harvest Now, Decrypt Later"
Nation-state actors are already harvesting encrypted data today, storing it to decrypt once quantum capability arrives. Data with long shelf lives is already at risk.
NIST Standards Are Finalized
NIST published ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA in 2024. Federal agencies are under directive to begin migration. Regulatory timelines are accelerating.
Enterprise Risk
Why It Threatens Your Organization
The quantum threat is not a distant hypothetical. It is a present-tense risk with a compressing timeline — and organizations that wait for certainty will face a crisis, not a migration.
Harvest Now, Decrypt Later
Adversaries are intercepting and storing encrypted data today — financial records, health data, IP, government communications — with the intent to decrypt it once quantum capability arrives. If your data has a shelf life longer than 5–10 years, it is already at risk.
NIST Timeline & Regulatory Pressure
NIST finalized PQC standards in 2024. OMB Memo M-23-02 directed federal agencies to begin inventory and migration. Financial regulators are drafting compliance requirements. The regulatory window is not theoretical — it is active.
Cryptographic Debt
Most enterprises cannot inventory their cryptographic dependencies. Hardcoded algorithms, expired certificates, and legacy protocols are embedded across TLS, SSH, VPNs, APIs, and third-party integrations. The debt is real — and the bill is coming due.
Migration Timeline
The Clock Is Ticking
NIST finalizes PQC standards
ML-KEM (FIPS 203), ML-DSA (FIPS 204), SLH-DSA (FIPS 205) published. The migration era begins.
OMB M-23-02 compliance deadline
Federal agencies required to submit cryptographic inventories and begin migration planning.
Financial sector compliance drafts
Regulators across banking, insurance, and capital markets begin issuing PQC compliance guidance.
CNSA 2.0 transition deadline (NSS)
National Security Systems must complete migration to CNSA 2.0 algorithms. Commercial pressure intensifies.
Legacy RSA/ECC deprecated
Classical public-key algorithms deprecated across regulated industries. Organizations without crypto agility face emergency migrations.
Regulatory Landscape
Global PQC Guidance & Country Mandates
Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are issuing binding mandates and transition timelines for post-quantum cryptography. Here is where key nations stand today.
United States (USA)
U.S. federal agencies have required the development of inventories, risk assessments, and migration strategies, all aligned with a long-term post-quantum cryptography (PQC) timeline spanning the coming decades.
Canada
Canada is already encouraging organizations to begin inventorying and planning efforts now, with the rollout of standards-based post-quantum cryptography (PQC) expected to start in 2025–26.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Dubai, has required government bodies and critical industries to transition to post-quantum security, following the approval of its National Encryption Policy and related executive regulations in late November 2025.
Australia
The Australian government is targeting a full transition to quantum-resistant standards by 2030. The focus is currently shifting from high-level planning to active implementation, with a steady rollout scheduled across the remainder of the decade.
Asia & Pacific Region
South Korea: Standardized domestic algorithms (KpqC) with a phased transition roadmap from 2025–2035.
New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and other nations: Developing guidance and planning steps to move towards quantum-safe cryptography in the future.
Europe
EU (2026 Strategy): Coordinating a cross-border roadmap guided by ENISA to align all member states under a single PQC framework.
UK (Long-term Migration): Prioritizing immediate cryptographic discovery, with full-scale implementation spanning the next decade into the early 2030s.
Sources: QuantumGate, GSMA
From the Insights Hub
The Cryptographic Debt Crisis
Most enterprises have accumulated years of cryptographic debt — hardcoded algorithms, expired certificates, and legacy protocols that will not survive the quantum era. Read our in-depth analysis.
Understand Your Quantum Risk
Alonix's PQC Readiness Assessment maps your cryptographic exposure and delivers a prioritized migration roadmap — in weeks, not months.