Most important for organisations however is not the sheer code-breaking capabilities these machines will usher in , it ’ s the threat they are already posing today in the form Harvest Now , Decrypt Later ( HNDL ) attacks . “ Any data with a multi-year lifespan , such as government secrets , R & D innovation , asset ownership data in financial services and strategic plans , could be collected today and decrypted in the future ,” says Cheng . “ No matter what industry you are in – the private keys of utilities providers or the cardholder ’ s information held by big banks – all data is vulnerable .
“ This HNDL threat is backed-up by numerous pieces of research , which find that nation-state adversaries are already collecting encrypted data with longterm utility . In fact , we are already seeing instances where internet traffic has been routed on unusual global paths for no apparent reason before returning to normal , which are indicative of such attacks occurring .
“ Organisations that fail to recognise this threat and secure their data today , particularly those holding highly sensitive data with a long shelf life , are potentially putting themselves and the wider economy at huge risk in the future .”
Immediate steps for organisations For organisations today , Upadhyay insists that acknowledging quantum threats should be the first step . Then comes “ serious engineering and rigorous research efforts ” to transition to post-quantum cryptographic systems .
“ The field of quantum data security is evolving and organisations will undoubtedly require talent equipped with expertise in both quantum computing and security ,” he says .
As Gavin Millard adds , it ’ s “ pointless having
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