Organisations struggle to map cryptography for post quantum shift

Many organisations recognise post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as a priority but lack a detailed inventory of where cryptography is used, making it difficult to plan a transition. A July DigiCert study found that 87% were planning, testing or implementing PQC, while only 44% had transition plans or inventories. A separate Ponemon Institute study found that just 43% had full visibility of their cryptographic estate.

Cryptography can be embedded in web servers, certificates, VPNs, code-signing systems and supplier products, so discovery must cover dependencies as well as algorithms.

The urgency is uncertain: estimates for “Q Day”, when a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could break today’s public-key cryptography, range from 2030 to 2040 and beyond. QubitAC founder and CTO Anurag Swarnim Yadav said he believes attackers could achieve this by 2029, but this is his estimate, not a confirmed deadline. NIST’s roadmap identifies “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks as a reason to act sooner: attackers could collect encrypted data now and try to decrypt it in future.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre recommends that large organisations complete discovery and assessment and create an initial migration plan by 2028, then finish migration by 2035.

NIST finalised three PQC standards in 2024: ML-KEM for key exchange, and ML-DSA and SLH-DSA for digital signatures. Yadav’s free, open-source AC Scanner can scan outward-facing TLS and SSH services across a specified IP range, producing an inventory of algorithms, keys, certificates and protocols, alongside security and PQC-readiness scores. It also identifies whether endpoints offer classical or hybrid key exchange.

The scan is an initial snapshot; organisations still need to assess findings, prioritise sensitive data and critical systems, and develop migration plans.