Why Your Post-Quantum Cryptography Strategy Must Start Now - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM PALO ALTO NETWORKS

"For C-suite leaders, one of the most daunting operational challenges of the next decade will be the migration to post-quantum cryptography: algorithms that can defend against attacks from quantum computers. While the long-term theoretical threat is clear, the immediate top-of-mind concern should be the practical multiyear journey of upgrading potentially thousands of devices, applications, and data stores to be quantum-resistant."

"Make no mistake about it: This migration is complex and costly, and it touches every part of the enterprise. Further exacerbating this challenge is the "harvest now, decrypt later" threat, in which nation-state actors siphon and stockpile encrypted data today, waiting for the arrival of quantum computers to retroactively decrypt the data. This threat transforms a future computing problem into an immediate crisis for those with any data with long-term value."

"The U.S. government, through the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, agreed the threat is real, and it issued several cybersecurity resilience mandates in 2025. Therefore, the industry is aligned on the danger and understands that because the migration takes years, the time to start is now. For C-suite leaders, this is your clear, actionable path forward."

Organizations will face a multiyear, complex, and costly migration to post-quantum cryptography requiring upgrades of thousands of devices, applications, and data stores. The "harvest now, decrypt later" technique enables adversaries to collect encrypted data today for future decryption by quantum computers, threatening long-lived sensitive information such as pharmaceutical formulas and aerospace designs. U.S. agencies (NIST, CISA) have issued 2025 cybersecurity resilience mandates acknowledging the risk. Because migration spans years and the threat is retroactive, immediate, organization-wide planning and action by C-suite executives is required to protect continuity, market position, and customer trust.

Read at Harvard Business Review