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Quantum in Cybersecurity.

Breaking — and rebuilding — the encryption that runs the internet.

A large enough quantum computer breaks RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography — the foundation of internet security. Governments and browsers are already rolling out post-quantum encryption today.

RSA Has An Expiration Date

A large enough quantum computer breaks RSA and ECC — the encryption behind almost all internet traffic.

Why quantum, why now.

  • Shor's algorithm factors large numbers exponentially faster than classical methods.
  • "Harvest now, decrypt later" makes encrypted data vulnerable retroactively.
  • Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers cryptography guaranteed by physics itself.

Timeline — past and future.

What already happened, and what's next for quantum cybersecurity.

  1. 1994

    Peter Shor publishes algorithm breaking RSA.

  2. 2016

    China launches Micius quantum satellite.

  3. 2016

    NIST opens post-quantum cryptography standardization competition.

  4. 2022

    NIST selects Kyber, Dilithium, SPHINCS+ as first PQC standards.

  5. 2023

    Chrome and Cloudflare ship hybrid post-quantum TLS.

  6. 2024

    NIST finalizes FIPS 203, 204, 205 (Kyber, Dilithium, SPHINCS+).

  7. 2027Forecast

    US federal systems required to be post-quantum by law.

  8. 2030Forecast

    Most public internet traffic runs post-quantum cryptography.

  9. 2035Forecast

    First credible cryptographically-relevant quantum computer.

Where it hits.

Post-quantum cryptography

New lattice-based algorithms (Kyber, Dilithium) resistant to quantum attacks.

Quantum key distribution

Provably secure key exchange over quantum networks.

Quantum random numbers

True randomness for cryptographic seeds, straight from quantum measurement.

Threat modeling

Timing the crypto migration before adversaries reach cryptographically relevant scale.

What's already happening.

  • Post-quantum TLS live in Chrome, Firefox, Cloudflare, AWS.
  • Quantum key distribution (QKD) deployed in China's national backbone.
  • Quantum random number generators sold commercially by ID Quantique, Quantinuum, and others.
  • NIST FIPS 203/204/205 standards driving federal migration in the US.

Companies in quantum cybersecurity.

Who's actually building here — hardware makers, industry partners, and pure-play startups.

SandboxAQ

Alphabet spin-off — leading enterprise PQC migration platform.

ID Quantique

Pioneer in QKD hardware and quantum RNG.

Toshiba

Major QKD systems provider for banks and telecoms.

IBM

Co-authored Kyber and Dilithium NIST winners.

PQShield

Post-quantum crypto IP for chip vendors.

Quantinuum

Quantum Origin — quantum-generated entropy as a cloud service.

Ecosystem highlights

NISTNSAIBMToshibaID QuantiqueSandboxAQ
Time horizon

Cryptographically relevant quantum computer: 10–15 years. Migration must start now.

Interesting corners.

  • The real timeline pressure isn't a working quantum computer — it's the 25-year secrecy horizon of intercepted data.
  • 'Cryptographic agility' — the ability to swap algorithms quickly — is now a top infrastructure priority.
  • QKD is beautiful physics but expensive and range-limited; PQC does the heavy real-world lifting.
  • The transition is dominated by the last 5% of legacy devices — SCADA, medical, satellites — that can't be patched.
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