February 12, 2025 · Faith Forge Labs Editorial Team
Post-Quantum Readiness: An Inventory Before a Migration
Post-quantum planning starts with the information that needs long-term protection and the systems that encrypt or sign it. An inventory makes the next decisions clearer.
Post-quantum cryptography is designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers as well as today's conventional systems. It matters because some encryption and signing methods in current use could become vulnerable to sufficiently capable quantum computers.
That does not give every business the same migration deadline. It does give teams a reason to find the cryptography they depend on and understand how it can be updated. Most applications inherit these choices from libraries, cloud services, certificates, devices and vendors.
Begin with how long information matters
Identify information that must stay confidential for a long time. Data collected today may still be sensitive years from now. Include backups, exports and partner transfers; their protection can depend on systems outside the main application.
Consider digital signatures as well as encryption. Signatures help verify origin and integrity, so their replacement involves different dependencies from protecting a private connection.
Build an inventory with owners
Record the services, libraries, certificates, signing tools, key stores and devices involved. For each, name an owner, supported versions and the route by which updates reach production. Note information that is still unknown.
A component list is useful, but configuration matters too. “Managed by the vendor” should lead to a documented support question: what will change, which products are covered and what must the customer do?
Use current standards and supported implementations
NIST's post-quantum program lists published standards, including FIPS 203 for key establishment and FIPS 204 and 205 for digital signatures. These are different roles, not interchangeable upgrades.
Use the standards and relevant vendor guidance to plan supported changes. Avoid inventing cryptography or assuming that changing one library updates every connection, certificate and device in the organization.
Make future changes easier
Crypto-agility means being able to change cryptographic methods without redesigning the whole product. Useful preparation includes supported libraries, manageable configuration, repeatable certificate rotation and tests between systems that must communicate.
Prioritize components with long replacement lead times. A field device or partner connection may need more planning than an application library under the team's direct control.
Pilot the whole connection
In a test environment, check compatible libraries, connection setup, message sizes, performance, monitoring and recovery. Include the intermediate systems through which the connection passes. A successful endpoint test does not establish that the entire path is ready.
Finish the roadmap with owners, dependencies and the next verified step. Keep it current as support changes. The useful outcome is a controlled migration plan, rather than a promise that one upgrade makes every system post-quantum safe.