Speaking at the tenth annual CYBERUK conference in Glasgow, Richard Horne, CEO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that rapid technological change driven by developments in AI and geopolitical tensions are giving rise to a period of “tumultuous uncertainty”.
Horne also warned that the majority of ‘nationally significant’ threats to UK firms derive from nation states such as Russia, China and Iran.
Against this backdrop, Google and Cloudflare have reportedly both moved their quantum security deadlines forward to 2029.
These major industry developments, combined with the UK government’s own 2028 cryptographic audit deadline, mean that the window for businesses to act on migrating to post-quantum encryption has shrunk considerably.
The NCSC warns that the threat posed by quantum computing is already here, as nation states are harvesting encrypted data right now, with the aim of decrypting it with quantum computers at a later date.
Graham Peters, Managing Director for government services at Arqit commented: “The theme of this year’s Cyber UK – accelerating our cyber-defences – feels particularly relevant as organisations begin to get to grips with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC).
“With the NCSC setting clear timelines for migration planning, for many the challenge is not what to do, but where to start.
“Recent moves by major technology providers such as Google and Cloudflare to bring forward their quantum security deadlines highlights the growing urgency to act.
“Some organisations are already underway with PQC migration programmes, others are just reaching the starting line, and many are still working out how to get going.
“The risk is that delaying planning will lead to higher costs and greater disruption later.
“The first step is understanding your current cryptographic landscape – because you can’t plan a migration if you don’t know what you have.
“At Arqit, we’re helping organisations take that first step with encryption discovery and intelligence, providing guidance on how to build a practical, phased PQC migration plan.”
