How to Prepare for Quantum Computing Security Threats: A Roadmap

Realizing that quantum computing threatens all existing encryption systems is one thing. But what to do about it well, that’s a different beast altogether, and the one that ensnares almost all organizations. At this stage, the threat itself is well documented but turning that awareness into an actual sequenced action plan is where preparations usually come to a standstill. Firms that view quantum readiness as an abstract, long-term concern, rather than as a phased portfolio, achieve far less than firms working from a roadmap.

The good news is that you do not need to invent this roadmap completely from scratch. For years, governments, standards bodies and security researchers have worked on structured methodologies for exactly this problem and they’ve converged on fairly consistent steps that organizations of virtually any size can tailor to suit their own environment.

Step 1: Create a crypto repository

Getting oriented around quantum computing security preparedness steps starts with an unglamorous but essential first step: figuring out where cryptography actually lives across an organization’s systems. This is where almost all credible quantum preparation frameworks begin, because it is truly tough to safeguard what has not been identified. This inventory should include obvious locations such as the encryption protecting external communications and data at rest, but also less obvious places like cryptography baked into old legacy software, hardware, firmware and third-party services.