Why Waiting for Quantum Computers to Arrive Could Leave Your Security Exposed
IT Security Guru, Thursday, November 5th, 2026
Organisations should not wait for quantum computers to arrive; mapping their cryptography and building agility could take years.
Writing for IT Security Guru from OpenSSL's perspective, the author argues that the key question is not when quantum computers will break today's cryptography but how long it would take an organisation to change its own.
The first step is an inventory of where cryptography is used, which algorithms protect which data, and which dependencies sit with suppliers.
Post-quantum standards are now implemented, for example ML-KEM, ML-DSA and SLH-DSA in OpenSSL 3.5, but signature sizes, performance and interoperability raise engineering challenges, and hybrid approaches are an option.
Harvest-now-decrypt-later risk makes long-lived sensitive data a priority, and the article calls cryptographic agility the most valuable outcome of the transition.