Treasury Unveils Post-Quantum Readiness Task Force

The Quantum-Readiness Task Force will bring together government officials, financial institutions, market infrastructure operators and technology providers “to help accelerate the U.S. financial sector’s transition to quantum-safe technology in an orderly and operationally resilient manner, building on the G7 Cyber Expert Group roadmap for the transition to post-quantum cryptography,” according to a Monday press release.

“America must lead in securing the technologies that power our economy,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the release. “This task force will help ensure our financial system remains strong, secure and competitive as new technologies reshape the global landscape.”

The task force’s work will be divided into three areas, including sector alignment and post-quantum cryptography; third-party and vendor readiness; and digital assets and emerging technology risk, the release said.

The work stream on vendor readiness may carry the greatest significance for financial institutions. Banks frequently do not control the encryption embedded in their cloud services, network appliances, hardware security modules, identity platforms or payments software. Migration to new systems therefore will depend on vendors’ product roadmaps and their ability to support new interoperable, validated algorithms.