Why the Shift to Post-Quantum Encryption Can’t Wait Any Longer
A recent warning from smart-contract researcher Gianluca Di Bella at a UN event in Copenhagen reignited the debate on whether the world is prepared for quantum-powered attacks. According to him, waiting another decade could be a fatal mistake for global cybersecurity.
Quantum Computing Is No Longer a Distant Threat
For years, discussions around quantum computing and encryption sounded like speculative forecasting—important, but comfortably remote. Di Bella argues the opposite. In his view, the threat is not tied to the moment quantum computers become publicly powerful. The danger began the moment attackers realized they could collect encrypted data today and decrypt it in the future.
This strategy, known as “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” (HNDL), is already being observed in the wild. Attackers quietly intercept encrypted traffic, store archives of sensitive information, and simply wait until new technologies allow them to break the protection. When quantum capabilities reach maturity, these collected datasets may unravel instantly.
Why the Urgency Is Growing
In Copenhagen, Di Bella emphasized that the timeline for quantum-resistant standards is shrinking. While broad commercial use of quantum computing may still be 10–15 years away, global tech leaders—Microsoft, Google, IBM—are investing heavily in accelerated quantum research. A breakthrough could compress the timeline to just a handful of years.
The consequence: organizations relying on classical cryptography could wake up to a world where their historical records, communications, and even stored blockchain data become readable to adversaries. For governments, financial institutions, and digital-asset ecosystems, such a moment would be catastrophic.
HNDL Attacks: The Silent Crisis
One of the most alarming parts of Di Bella’s statement is that HNDL attacks are invisible until it’s too late. No alarms trigger when data is copied but not decrypted. No security teams investigate “silent storage theft.” The breach becomes visible only after quantum decryption makes the stolen archives intelligible.
He pointed out several categories of data that are most vulnerable:
- long-term encrypted communications (diplomatic, corporate, financial);
- blockchain transactions that assume immutability but not post-quantum resilience;
- government records that must remain confidential for decades;
- intellectual property and R&D archives.
These archives are already being collected. Whether they remain secure in the future depends entirely on decisions made today.
The Path to Post-Quantum Standards
The shift toward post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is already underway. Institutions are reviewing standards proposed by NIST, while major organizations are planning multi-year migration strategies. But Di Bella stresses that adoption must accelerate. The gap between classical and quantum security widens every year.
Modern blockchains, Web3 projects, and decentralized finance platforms will face the same pressure. Systems built on irreversible smart-contracts could be rendered unsafe if quantum-capable attackers manage to forge signatures or rewrite transaction histories.
Conclusion: The Time to Act Is Now
Post-quantum encryption is no longer a theoretical upgrade but a necessary step for future-proofing global digital infrastructure. As Di Bella emphasizes, the transition must begin immediately—before HNDL attacks turn today’s secure data into tomorrow’s catastrophic breach.
For industries built on cryptography—finance, blockchain, authentication, cloud storage—the decision is not whether to migrate, but how quickly they can begin.
Editorial Team — CoinBotLab