Post-Quantum Migration: The Next Phase
3 Predictions from Guinan... I Mean, QuSecure
The Quantum Dragon worries about the future. Cryptographically relevant quantum computers are coming and, let’s face it, we’re not prepared for that. The market is splitting between early movers and laggards, and even the early movers need to consider how long their respective migrations will take. It doesn’t matter when Q-Day will arrive; rather, it will matter if organizations can actually complete their migrations before it happens. It ain’t an overnight process, folks; it takes years!
So, he went to Ten Forward, ordered a stiff drink, and asked Guinan for counsel. As an El-Aurian, Guinan has a special relationship with time, and she offered him three predictions:
First movers will learn faster and spend less with prioritized pilots and phased implementations than organizations with elaborate, exhaustive roadmaps involving prolonged discovery and inventory.
Organizations will upgrade their cryptography in ways that preserve uptime and maintain compatibility, rather than disrupting operations by rushing to replace legacy infrastructure.
With the continued evolution of standards and threats, crypto-agility will become non-negotiable. Migration will not be a one-shot deal, but rather it will require ongoing adaptation as threats evolve.
Wow! She’s not from Earth; where did she get all that from? It turns out she read a press release from QuSecure in the archives.
Conclusion
Don’t wear a red uniform.
Besides that, to paraphrase QuSecure’s CEO and Co-Founder Rebecca Krauthamer, PQC leaders will be the ones whose actions do not focus on building the thickest imaginable slide decks. Those organizations may find themselves shifting from awareness of risk to awareness of being compromised. No, the leaders will ensure that their migrations will actually finish before it’s too late, if that’s not already the case.
In the words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, “make it so.”
Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E.