issue 04
editor’ s note
ost-quantum security was
P one of the major areas of focus at GISEC Global this year, reflecting a significant change in the cybersecurity conversation. Quantum computing may still be years away from breaking widely used public-key cryptography, but organisations are increasingly recognising that preparing for that moment cannot wait until the technology arrives.
That urgency comes as quantum technology itself moves closer to commercial reality. McKinsey says the sector is evolving from a research ecosystem towards a scalable technology stack. It estimates the global internal quantum technology market, covering hardware, software and services, could reach $ 60 billion to $ 100 billion by 2035, with quantum computing accounting for between $ 43 billion and $ 71 billion.
For CISOs, however, the immediate concern is not the size of the quantum market. It is what quantum computing could eventually do to cryptography protecting sensitive information today.
The threat is encapsulated by‘ harvest now, decrypt later’. Attackers can potentially collect encrypted information now and retain it until sufficiently powerful quantum computers become available to decrypt it.
Data that needs to remain confidential for decades, including government information, intellectual property, financial records and critical infrastructure data, therefore faces a risk long before a cryptographically relevant quantum computer actually arrives.
This helps explain why quantum security attracted attention at GISEC. Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of e &, launched Quantum360, a portfolio of post-quantum cybersecurity services intended to help governments, critical infrastructure operators and enterprises understand their cryptographic exposure and develop a structured transition towards quantum-safe security.
The UAE is also seeing post-quantum security become part of its sovereign infrastructure strategy. QuantumGate’ s quantum-safe technology is being deployed on du Tech’ s National Hypercloud, allowing post-quantum capabilities to operate within UAE infrastructure while sensitive data, keys and cryptographic controls remain under national control.
And this is only the beginning. Following this year’ s event, organisers announced Global Quantum X by GITEX, a dedicated event that will be co-located with GISEC Global 2027. Its creation is another indication that quantum is moving from a specialist research discussion into the mainstream technology and cybersecurity agenda.
Yet post-quantum readiness cannot simply mean replacing one encryption algorithm with another.
Cryptography is embedded throughout applications, networks, devices, certificates, cloud environments and supply chains. Discovering where vulnerable cryptography exists is itself a substantial undertaking. Migration then requires testing, coordination with technology suppliers and carefully managed implementation. Palo Alto Networks notes that replacing deeply embedded cryptography can take years.
This makes crypto-agility increasingly important. Rather than treating cryptography as something permanently built into infrastructure, organisations need the ability to replace algorithms, keys and protocols as standards and threats evolve.
The message emerging from GISEC was therefore not that quantum computers are about to break enterprise security tomorrow. It was that waiting for that moment would be far too late.
Jeevan Thankappan Managing Editor
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