Google announces a clear deadline: 2029 as a key year to secure the quantum era by migrating to PQC (post-quantum cryptography). Why does this matter for you, your company, or your favorite app? Because quantum computing is advancing and could break the protections we use today to encrypt data and verify identities.

What Google proposes and why it makes sense

Google lays out an ambitious timeline for the transition to PQC, based on real progress in quantum hardware, quantum error correction, and estimates about quantum factoring. This isn't science fiction — it's a practical response to a tangible risk.

The company highlights two distinct threats:

• The immediate risk: store-now-decrypt-later attacks. An attacker can capture encrypted traffic today and wait for a future quantum computer capable of breaking it.
• The future risk: digital signatures. These need migration to PQC before a Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer () exists.