SHI has urged organisations to prepare for the security risks posed by quantum computing, warning that companies need greater crypto-agility across their technology systems.
Brad Bowers, Lead Field CISO Global at SHI, said businesses could face a narrow window to replace vulnerable cryptographic systems if quantum computing advances at the faster end of current forecasts.
Replacing cryptographic systems across large organisations can take years because encryption is embedded in applications, networks, databases, identity systems, connected devices and business processes.
One of those risks is known as harvest now, decrypt later, in which attackers collect encrypted data today in the expectation that future quantum systems may be able to unlock it.
Some observers have interpreted findings like this as evidence that post-quantum cryptography remains immature.