The US government is mandating organizations to implement quantum-safe cryptography by the beginning of the next decade. Recent breakthroughs in quantum technology are moving the deadline forward.
President Trump has signed an executive order requiring US companies with ‘high-value assets and high-impact systems’ to adopt quantum-safe encryption by 2030. The government is moving its initial deadline forward by five years. Systems that were previously only required to be secured by 2035 must now be ready by the start of the next decade.
The threat quantum computers pose to traditional encryption has been heralded for years. Quantum computers will be able to break current encryption standards effortlessly. New protocols that are resistant to the processing power of quantum computers have been available for several years. However, the migration is not completed in a single day.
Harvest now, decrypt later
With a legal mandate, the US government wants to inject some urgency. Waiting for the actual breakthrough of quantum is not wise. Under the motto Harvest now, decrypt later, criminal organizations or state actors could already be capturing sensitive data now, only to decrypt it once they have a quantum computer at their disposal.
The order refers to national security risks if the migration does not happen on time. “The arrival of large-scale quantum computers, particularly in the hands of adversaries, will pose a significant threat to widely used cryptographic security systems. Persistent cyber activities against our country also carry the risk that adversaries are collecting information about the United States now and will decipher it later, once large-scale quantum computers are operational.”
From promise to reality
The advanced deadline will make organizations that haven’t started migrating yet break a sweat. But the acceleration doesn’t come out of nowhere. Several major technology companies such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft believe that the first ‘usable’ quantum computers may be possible by 2029. They won’t be available to a wide audience immediately, but after decades of promises, the arrival of quantum computers now seems truly close.