State agencies, local government, and the education sector "can't wait" to prepare for Q-Day – or the day quantum computing becomes able to break current encryption, State Chief Information Officer Bernice Russell-Bond said at the N.C. Digital Government Summit on Aug. 19.
Cryptography relies on complex math to lock data. However, quantum computers may soon be powerful enough to solve that math and break the encryption.
Regardless of when Q-Day arrives, public organizations protecting residents’ data should "feel a sense of urgency," Russell-Bond said.
Even historical breaches involving encrypted data pose an ongoing risk: Under a "harvest now, decrypt later" strategy, cybercriminals can stockpile stolen data and unlock it once quantum tools mature.
Russell-Bond recommended that organizations inventory where they use cryptography. Asymmetric methods — which use a public key to lock data and a private key to unlock it — are far more exposed to quantum attacks than symmetric methods, which rely on a single private key that's harder to share.
Governments can also reduce risk now by requiring vendors to follow the latest standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
"Defense against quantum attack does not necessarily require quantum technology," Russell-Bond said. "Never waste a crisis. Every little bit of cybersecurity measures helps."