The migration clock is running

Tracking the world's shift to post-quantum cryptography.

Key dates, mandates, and daily news on the largest cryptographic migration in history — and what your organization needs to do before Q-Day. An advisory resource with a NIST-aligned migration guide, cryptographic inventory methods and a quantum-safe vendor map.

Learn PQC → Migration guide Cryptographic inventory Vendor map

2027

All new U.S. national security system acquisitions must be CNSA 2.0 compliant (Jan 1)

2030

Federal key establishment must be quantum-resistant (EO 14412); RSA-2048 / ECC P-256 deprecated per NIST IR 8547

2035

Quantum-vulnerable algorithms disallowed; full PQC migration target (NSM-10)

Milestone timeline

Aug 2024

NIST finalizes FIPS 203, 204, 205 (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA) — the first post-quantum standards, ending an eight-year evaluation and triggering the global migration.

2025–26

Roadmaps & early migration. EU member states publish national PQC strategies and begin cryptographic inventories by end of 2026. Vendors ship PQC-enabled products (AT&T/Cisco PQC SD-WAN, May 2026). Google, Cloudflare target 2029 internal completion.

Jun 2026

U.S. deadlines pulled forward. Executive Order 14412 sets end-2030 for quantum-resistant key establishment and end-2031 for digital signatures on high-value and high-impact federal systems. OMB M-26-15 puts execution on a schedule — a named migration lead per agency and migration plans due within 120 days — and the Department of War's PQC strategy commits to high-impact systems by 2030 and the full force by 2031.

Jan 2027

CNSA 2.0 hard gate. All new U.S. national security system acquisitions must use quantum-resistant algorithms. Software & firmware signing face exclusive-use requirements. Treated as a hard deadline for the defense industrial base.

2030

Deprecation begins. 112-bit algorithms (RSA-2048, ECC P-256) deprecated for new federal deployments per NIST IR 8547, and EO 14412 makes quantum-resistant key establishment the requirement for high-value and high-impact systems by year end — with digital signatures following in 2031. Legacy equipment unable to support CNSA 2.0 must complete transition. BCG: "starting in 2030 will already be too late."

2035

Full migration deadline. Quantum-vulnerable algorithms disallowed for federal systems, including legacy interoperability. NSM-10 target for widespread PQC adoption. EU completes medium-risk use-case migration.

Note on Q-Day: No cryptographically-relevant quantum computer exists yet, but several labs are racing to build one and Cloudflare notes timelines have been "pulled forward" from the classic 2035+ estimates. The "harvest now, decrypt later" threat means data with long confidentiality horizons is already at risk today.

How to prepare

STEP 01

Inventory your cryptography

Discover every place RSA, ECC, DH and ECDSA are used — TLS, VPNs, code signing, databases, certificates. You can't migrate what you can't see. Mandated annually for U.S. federal systems under OMB M-23-02.

Discovery methods & AI PoC →

STEP 02

Assess & prioritize risk

Rank systems by data confidentiality lifetime and exposure. Long-lived secrets are most vulnerable to "harvest now, decrypt later." Map dependencies and migration complexity.

Mosca's inequality explained →

STEP 03

Build crypto-agility

Architect systems so algorithms can be swapped without re-engineering. The EU Cyber Resilience Act now requires support for updatable cryptographic mechanisms over time.

The 7-phase process →

STEP 04

Pilot hybrid PQC

Deploy hybrid (classical + PQC) key exchange on high-priority paths now. PQC runs on existing hardware. Realistic enterprise timelines run 42–54 months — start early.

Migration plan template →

Daily news

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