Quantum computing promises to solve problems that today feel impossible: better medicines, new materials and breakthroughs in energy. But that same power can undo the digital locks that protect bank transfers, private chats and trade secrets.
Does that sound exaggerated? It isn't. What today seems like science fiction already has a name in practice: CRQC (Critically Relevant Quantum Computer) and attack strategies like “store now, decrypt later.” Bad actors are collecting encrypted data today, waiting for the day a large quantum machine can open it.
What's really happening?
The key difference is that quantum computers can evaluate many options at once, which makes them especially powerful for certain kinds of problems. That’s a huge advantage for science, but a serious risk for public-key cryptography (like RSA or ECC) that we use today to guarantee privacy and integrity.
That’s why post-quantum cryptography, PQC, exists: algorithms designed to resist attacks from quantum computers. After an international process, NIST announced the first PQC standards in 2024, and for years companies and research centers have been working on the transition.
