Quantum is today’s crisis disguised as a future event.
Consider this scenario: A global conglomerate operating across technology, pharmaceuticals and energy experiences what appears to be a minor breach. Attackers quietly copy encrypted design files, long-term drug research, pricing models and merger and acquisition (M&A) plans. The incident is dismissed as low risk because everything stolen is protected by standard RSA and ECC encryption — mathematical locks that would take a conventional computer millions of years to pick.
Years later, however, once quantum decryption becomes viable, a state-sponsored actor unlocks the entire archive in hours. Suddenly, proprietary formulas, engineering blueprints and strategic business plans are exposed. Competitors beat the company to market, undercut bids, and outmaneuver M&A strategies.
The company didn’t fail because of a breach that happened in the future. Rather, it failed because of a harvest now, decrypt later (HNDL) attack that occurred years prior — one they didn’t deem significant enough to stop.
This scenario represents the silent reality of the quantum era. As my colleague Anand Oswal recently noted, the quantum threat is retroactive. The damage from data stolen today will be realized years from now, making inaction a catastrophic failure of risk management.
The Shift From Harvest Now, Decrypt Later
While most boardroom conversations about quantum security focus on theoretical breakthroughs, HNDL is already reshaping global cyber risk.
Attackers are selectively harvesting information with a long shelf life — data that retains its value for 5, 10 or even 30 years. This data includes pharmaceutical formulas, chip architectures, government strategic details and sensitive personal identities. The logic is simple: Steal the encrypted data now, store it and wait for the computing power to catch up.
This reality forces boards to rethink data governance timelines. If a piece of intelligence needs to remain confidential for a decade, securing it with only classical encryption puts it at risk already today.
The good news is that organizations can inventory, protect and upgrade their defenses now. By strengthening systems where needed, they allow innovation to continue without interruption.
Trust in Partnership in the Quantum Era
Navigating this shift requires a new level of collaboration. As we move toward an AI-first world, we must recognize that we cannot face this new threat landscape alone.
A single team or technology cannot own a quantum-safe transformation. This transition requires partnerships built on shared visibility, shared intelligence and shared accountability — the philosophy driving the Palo Alto Networks and IBM partnership.
Our collaboration recognizes that a full-scale quantum migration requires a solution designed to help enterprises identify cryptographic exposure and understand quantum-related risks. It is about “governing for trust,” ensuring that our most valuable tools remain under our command and that we build a defense that spans the entire ecosystem.
Operational Agility with Cipher Translation
For the C-suite, the differentiator in this era will be who has the most operational agility, not who has the biggest quantum computer. This agility refers to an organization’s ability to adapt to new cryptography standards and modernize legacy systems without breaking the business, which is where cipher translation becomes decisive.
In simple terms, ciphers protect sensitive data by converting readable text into unreadable, scrambled text. Replacing these ciphers in legacy systems, however, usually requires a “rip-and-replace” strategy. This approach is time consuming and costly for any complex enterprise that might have thousands of applications and tens of thousands (or more) devices to cover.
Cipher translation offers a much faster path to quantum readiness. It enables organizations to leverage network-level controls to instantly upgrade devices and applications so they appear quantum-ready to the rest of the network, all without writing a single line of code or replacing any assets.
With cipher translation, enterprises can:
- Detect and intercept quantum-vulnerable encryption in flight.
- Automatically upgrade communications to quantum-safe algorithms.
- Protect legacy systems without the cost or risk of rewriting code.
- Neutralize HNDL data before it becomes attacker gold.
This approach transforms a massive infrastructure headache into a manageable policy update. It provides a clean slate, a consistent and manageable foundation to build the future on.
Leadership in the Quantum Era
The quantum era demands leadership, not a wait-and-see approach. Because quantum risks are no longer theoretical, they are taking shape already in how attackers operate and how long your data must remain protected. Boards need to ensure their organizations are ready before large-scale quantum computing arrives. As we have seen with other technological shifts, the transition will create a dividing line between organizations that lead and those that lag.
Quantum will reward early movers and expose stragglers. The question is no longer if your organization needs to prepare, but how you are leading the journey to get there.
Curious about what else Rich has to say? Check out his other articles on Perspectives.
