Your bank, your government, and your phone are all quietly preparing for a threat that does not fully exist yet

[Brittle Ronan]

Post-quantum cryptography is one of the least glamorous and most important technology transitions happening right now. The US standards body NIST finalised three new encryption algorithms in August 2024 specifically designed to survive attacks from future quantum computers. Cloudflare, which handles a substantial portion of global internet traffic, moved its quantum-safe transition deadline forward to 2029 after new research earlier this year suggested the threat timeline is closer than expected. The reason organisations are moving now rather than later is that encrypted data stolen today can simply be stored until a quantum machine exists to crack it open. That attack is already happening in theory, even if the decryption capability does not exist yet.

[NeonPilot]

I think we are in good hands an people have good intentions with the tech 

[BackRowBob]

Harvest now decrypt later is one of those concepts that once you understand it you cannot unsee it. Your encrypted messages from today are already at risk.

[VB]

Cloudflare moving its deadline to 2029 is the single most concrete data point I have seen on how seriously the people closest to this take the timeline.

[Connor82]

The average person has no idea this transition is happening and that is fine honestly. The people who need to know are moving. That is the system working.

[StringTheory51]

What worries me is the long tail of organisations that are not Cloudflare and do not have the resources or awareness to make this transition in time.