Page 245 - Cyber Defense eMagazine RSAC Special Edition 2025

Digital Provenance Will Collapse Without a New Standard

Provenance systems such as signed software, encrypted communications and blockchain traceability
rely on public-key cryptography, the exact encryption schemes that quantum is expected to break. When
RSA and ECC fall, signatures and certificates will no longer have the same trusted security capabilities
that they used to. The blockchain record may represent itself as authentic, but attackers with forged
quantum-signed keys will be able to inject themselves into the chain without leaving a trace. Without
quantum-resistant, provable standards for post-quantum cryptography and key distribution, compliance,
insurance, legal accountability and more are dead in the water.

Conclusion

Quantum computing may upend trade and commerce as we know it, but it doesn’t have to break it. The
risks are very real — authentication will be challenged, provenance disrupted, and digital and physical
trust will be put to the test. But this doesn’t mark the end of digital trust, but rather a very uniquely
positioned time to rebuild it. Across the globe, researchers and innovators are developing the next
generation of post-quantum security. Post quantum cryptography candidates have now been approved
by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and secure key distribution methods are
next to hit their stride. This is an inflection point in digital security and, for the first time in decades, marks
the start of a new decade of core system redevelopment. Those that take action today to integrate post-
quantum systems and protect themselves from future attacks will hold the blueprint for a more resilient,
transparent and secure global economy in the years to come.

About the Author

Blake Lazarus is the CMO and security insights contributor for Zeroproof. At
Zeroproof we develop quantum-resistant key distribution systems for the next
generation of enterprise security.

Blake can be reached online at [email protected] and at our company
website https://www.zeroproof.com

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