The Clock Is Already Ticking: Why Post-Quantum Cryptography Can't Wait
Security Boulevard, Tuesday, June 9th, 2026
'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later' attacks make post-quantum cryptography an urgent present-day priority, not a future one.
The article argues that post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is a right-now problem, not a future one, because data encrypted today is already at risk. PQC algorithms rely on math believed hard for quantum machines, unlike RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography that quantum computers can break.
The central threat is 'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later,' in which nation-state adversaries are actively collecting encrypted TLS traffic, including transactions and authentication sessions, to decrypt once quantum computing matures.
The recommended 2026 posture is hybrid handshakes that run both classical and PQC key exchange together, with examples such as Thales Imperva's hybrid TLS combining X25519 and ML-KEM-768.