Quantum Cybersecurity

The quantum threat to internet security is no longer theoretical.

Every bank transaction, private message, government record, and medical file on the internet today is protected by encryption algorithms that quantum computers will soon be able to break. The window to act is narrowing. Here is what you need to know — and what you can do about it.

How internet security works today

The security of the modern internet rests on two pillars: confidentiality — ensuring that only the intended recipient can read transmitted data — and integrity — ensuring that data has not been altered in transit.

Both are achieved using public-key cryptography. The two most widely deployed algorithms are RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman) and ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography). RSA derives its strength from the difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers, typically 2,048 bits in length. ECC relies on the difficulty of solving the discrete logarithm problem on elliptic curves. Together, they secure banking systems, government communications, insurance platforms, healthcare records, email, and private messaging — essentially all sensitive data on the internet.

A secondary mechanism, digital signatures, uses the same key infrastructure to guarantee data integrity. The sender hashes the message and encrypts the hash with their private key; the recipient decrypts it with the sender’s public key and verifies the hash matches the received content. Any alteration in transit causes the hashes to diverge, immediately revealing tampering.

Why quantum computers break all of this

In 1994, mathematician Peter Shor published an algorithm — now known as Shor’s Algorithm — that can efficiently solve the mathematical problems underlying both RSA and ECC. Run on a sufficiently powerful quantum computer, it can factor large prime products and solve elliptic curve discrete logarithms in a fraction of the time that would take classical computers billions of years.

The qubit threshold is falling fast

Early estimates placed the requirement for a cryptographically relevant quantum computer at approximately 20 million qubits. Recent research and optimizations to Shor's Algorithm have reduced that estimate to tens of thousands of qubits — a threshold that is within reach of current development roadmaps.

The clock is already running: Harvest Now, Decrypt Later

Nation-state actors and sophisticated adversaries do not need to wait for a quantum computer to exist. They are intercepting and storing encrypted data today — data that will become readable the moment a capable quantum computer becomes available. Any data with a long useful life — patient records, legal contracts, national security communications, financial data — is already at risk of future exposure.

If your organization transmits data that needs to remain confidential for five or more years, the threat is not future — it is present. The encryption protecting that data today may be rendered transparent by the time it needs to remain private.

Why organizations must act now, not later

01

NIST standards are finalized

In August 2024, NIST published its first post-quantum cryptography standards — FIPS 203, 204, and 205. The migration path is defined. There is no technical reason to wait.
02

Migration takes years

Transitioning cryptographic infrastructure across an entire software estate is a multi-year process. Organizations that begin today will still be mid-migration when capable quantum computers emerge. Starting late means being exposed.
03

Sensitive data is already harvested

The Harvest Now, Decrypt Later threat means the damage from inaction accumulates continuously — even before a single quantum computer breaks a single key.

NIST's selected post-quantum algorithms — ML-KEM (key encapsulation) and ML-DSA / SLH-DSA (digital signatures) — are designed to resist both classical and quantum attacks. These form the foundation of any responsible migration strategy.

Identifying what is at risk in your systems

Before migrating, organizations need to understand which algorithms are in use across their software stack and which are quantum-vulnerable. The table below summarizes the current landscape:

ALGORITHM CURRENT USE QUANTUM STATUS
RSA (1024–4096 bit) Key exchange, digital signatures, TLS Vulnerable
ECC / ECDH / ECDSA TLS, SSH, code signing, messaging Vulnerable
Diffie-Hellman (DH) Key exchange in TLS, VPNs Vulnerable
AES-128 / AES-256 Symmetric encryption AES-256 safe
SHA-256 / SHA-3 Hashing, integrity checks Considered safe
ML-KEM / ML-DSA / SLH-DSA NIST PQC standards (2024) Post-quantum safe

A comprehensive migration begins with a cryptographic inventory: cataloguing every place these algorithms appear in your systems — TLS configurations, authentication libraries, signing pipelines, key management services, VPN endpoints, and third-party dependencies.

SuperQubit’s two-track migration framework

Because it is impossible to upgrade every system simultaneously, we offer a structured, phased approach that protects organizations immediately while enabling a systematic long-term transition. Both tracks operate on a hybrid cryptographic model — classical and post-quantum algorithms running in parallel — ensuring that security is maintained even if one algorithm is compromised.

1. Legacy Systems

PQC Bridge: protect existing software without rewriting it

A cryptographic middleware layer that upgrades the security of existing systems without requiring any modification to the legacy application itself.
  • Cryptographic vulnerability assessment — identify every quantum-vulnerable algorithm across your stack
  • The Bridge transparently intercepts communications, re-wraps them in PQC-protected encryption, and unwraps at the receiving endpoint
  • No changes required to legacy codebases or infrastructure
  • Agile architecture: as NIST releases additional standards, the platform updates automatically
2. New Developments

Hybrid-first development framework

For new applications and systems being built today, our framework integrates post-quantum cryptography natively from the ground up.
  • Classical and PQC algorithms (e.g. X25519 + ML-KEM) run in parallel from day one
  • Key exchange combines outputs from both — if either is broken, the other maintains security
  • No cryptographic technical debt — systems are quantum-ready from launch
  • Agile architecture: new NIST-approved algorithms are integrated automatically as they are published

Both tracks are built on a hybrid cryptographic model — the current best practice recommended by NIST, ENISA, and BSI. A hybrid approach provides immediate post-quantum protection while retaining the battle-tested assurance of classical algorithms during the transition period.

Understand your organization’s quantum exposure

Start with a cryptographic inventory. We will map every vulnerable algorithm in your stack and build a prioritized migration roadmap.

Assess Your Quantum Risk

This website stores cookies on your computer. Cookie Policy