Why executives and boards should ensure their organisations are preparing for a quantum world

This is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, reflecting the astonishing advances of quantum technology over the past century. This is an area that continues to accelerate. For example, quantum computers will be able to efficiently solve problems that are practically impossible on digital computers today. Unfortunately, some of these problems are the very mathematics that keeps our data safe online. When large enough quantum computers are developed, it will break the foundation of secure web and VPN sessions. Malicious actors are capturing these secure sessions with the intent of breaking them when it becomes possible, exposing the data inside.

This “Store Now Decrypt Later” attack is the present-day threat from future quantum computers. Many experts think such computers are likely within a decade, and highly sensitive, long-lived data that was sent over the Internet could then be in the hands of cybercriminals. It is a data breach in slow motion.

The good news is that a solution is known. New cryptography algorithms have been standardised that should be resistant to future quantum computers. We need to migrate from vulnerable algorithms to these new post quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms. Organisations with highly sensitive, long-lived data need to begin this immediately, and some of the data may already be exposed.

This presentation will explain the implications of the Store Now Decrypt Later attack for different types of organisations, and outline approaches for mitigating the attack and how to begin the PQC migration. Executives will learn about the current state of the industry, tools to help, and processes to follow. Board directors will learn about the important role they play in prioritising the work and adopting a strategy to protect their organisations.

The Australian Signals Directorate’s Information security manual (ISM) was updated in December 2024 with new guidelines for cryptography that require suppliers migrate to PQC by 2030. This gives organisations with government and large corporate customers who follow the ISM less than five years to complete this work, and an advantage to those that do it sooner.

This session by Far Phase is independent of any PQC product supplier. It will provide timely advice to executives and boards on how to deal with the threat, how to take advantage of the opportunity, and how to prepare their organisations for an even-more quantum world.