Page 232 - Cyber Defense eMagazine September 2025

Estimated
Stage Capability Arrival Security Implication

Post-Q-Day Mass decryption capability 5–15 years Global crypto overhaul
required

The engineering challenges, qubit stability, error correction, scalability, are being addressed at an
accelerating pace. The likely window before Q-Day is narrow enough that critical sectors must act now
(NIST, 2023; NSA, 2022).

Conclusion

Quantum computing represents both a marvel of physics and an existential risk to our digital civilization.
Where once cryptography was the immutable law of cyberspace, the peculiar rules of quantum
mechanics could soon overturn those laws entirely. State and criminal actors are already preparing—
harvesting encrypted data for future decryption.

To survive this deflection point in cybersecurity history, ISSM and ISSO professionals must take
leadership in quantifying cryptographic exposure, migrating to quantum-resistant systems, implementing
crypto-agility, and embedding new defense concepts like QKD.

In the words of Michio Kaku, we are about to enter an age where “the impossible becomes inevitable.”
For cybersecurity, this means the future will belong to those who prepare, not after the quantum wave
hits, but before it crests on the horizon.

References

National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2023). Post-quantum cryptography
project. https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/post-quantum-cryptography

National Security Agency. (2022). Quantum computing and cryptography: Key policy
issues. https://media.defense.gov

Yuan, Z., Chen, Y., Zhao, Y., & Zhang, Q. (2017). The Beijing–Shanghai quantum communication
backbone: Science, technology and innovation. National Science Review, 4(2), 193–
200. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwx004

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