WSJ Deloitte Risk & Compliance: Five Steps to Prepare Security for the Quantum Era

(WSJ.Deloitte) The digital economy depends on trust in the internet—without it, neither businesses nor consumers would feel safe conducting business or spending time online. Making that trust possible today are cryptographic algorithms embedded in hardware and software throughout most enterprise infrastructure. IQT-NEWS summarizes here an extensive Wall Street Journal article written by Deloitte & Touche experts in Risk & Advisory.
Unfortunately the authors point out, the effectiveness of some of today’s cybersecurity methods may soon draw to a close. While public-key cryptographic algorithms, which serve as the backbone of today’s secure internet, have generally been immune to attacks by even the fastest computers, some specialists predict1 that within a decade, cybercriminals and nation-state actors with access to quantum computing capabilities may gain the ability to crack them.
To ready their organizations for these oncoming risks, it’s important for business leaders to understand the quantum threat, the current state of postquantum cryptography, and how to prepare for quantum-safe cryptographic systems and procedures.

Business leaders can take several actions to ready their organizations for the security implications of quantum computing: Build awareness of quantum’s security risks. Understand the risk quantum computing poses to existing cryptographic and encryption systems;
Take a fresh approach to cryptographic governance.
Preparing cryptographic systems for the quantum computing era is a major technical challenge.
Engage with the quantum security ecosystem.
Assess the enterprise’s readiness to become crypto-agile.
To assess readiness, consider:
–Data and cryptographic assets.
–Cryptographic keys.
–Infrastructure limitations.
Practice good cyber hygiene. As always, be proactive about managing and reducing cybersecurity risks