- Q-Day refers to the moment a quantum computer can break current encryption standards - There is no exact timeline for Q-day, but IonQ’s Niccolo De Masi predicted that it might happen by the end of the Trump administration - Government agencies and commercial companies have taken steps to prepare for the quantum future Organizations around the world are racing to build a quantum computer capable of solving problems too complex for classical computing, but the technology comes with a caveat: it can also render current cybersecurity mechanisms obsolete. As quantum computing capabilities continue to advance, cybersecurity leaders are increasingly warning about Q-day, the moment when a cryptographically relevant quantum computer becomes capable of breaking the security mechanisms currently protecting systems and data from cyberattacks. The Potomac Officers Club has convened the foremost experts from government, industry and academia to discuss the quantum threat at the 2026 Cyber Summit on May 21. The event’s Quantum Computing and Post Quantum Cryptography — Preparing for the Next Security Disruption panel will feature speakers from the University of Alabama, the Department of Education, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Corelight and Everforth ECS Federal. Limited tickets are still available here! What Will Happen on Q-Day? Although the threat of quantum computing is serious, Q-day will not be disruptive, according to Palo Alto Networks. It will not cause the internet to collapse, the company added. Instead, what may happen is a loss of trust as Rivest-Shamir-Adleman crypto-system, also known as RSA, and elliptic-curve cryptography, or ECC — widely used encryption algorithms — become vulnerable. On Q-day, a cryptographically relevant quantum computer would be able to easily and quickly solve the math problems that keep encryption algorithms secure. Palo Alto Networks said public key infrastructures, certificate authorities and digital identities will need to be replaced immediately to