Organizations need to start assessing now which data will still be sensitive in five or ten years. This is to ensure they’re ready for Post-Quantum Cryptography, says Edwin Weijdema, Field CTO EMEA at Veeam. He says the time for PQC readiness is running out, as the prospect of data being decrypted by a quantum computer gets closer and closer. Ideally, organizations should act now; otherwise, their data could be decrypted and exposed in less than two years.
Many people view quantum computing as the next step in AI or simply as a faster calculator. According to Weijdema, who is responsible for PQC at Veeam, that’s not accurate. A classical computer uses zeros and ones, while a quantum computer uses qubits that can exist in multiple states simultaneously. He compares it to a maze. A regular computer tries one route after another until it hits a wall. A quantum computer examines all options at once. That makes the technology interesting for drug development and materials research, but also for something less appealing: cracking the encryption we now use everywhere.
And that’s the problem. Weijdema expects that, in the long run, cybercriminals will purchase quantum computing power as a service. Data stolen five years ago, which has been unreadable until now, could then still be decrypted. This scenario is known as “harvest now, decrypt later.” Attackers are collecting encrypted data today to decrypt it later.
The timeline is moving up
How much time is left? No one knows for sure. According to Weijdema, 2035 was initially set as the date by which organizations had to be quantum-ready. Now, 2030 is being cited as Q-Day, and he even sees 2029 as the year a quantum computer will crack current encryption. That would put a mountain of data at risk in just under two years. Several governments have already taken notice of this, leading them to prepare high-impact systems to withstand attacks capable of breaking standard public-key encryption.
Weijdema’s advice to organizations is straightforward: take a close look at your own data. What’s in it? And would it still embarrass you in ten years if that information were leaked? If the answer is yes, you need to act now, not in three years.
According to Weijdema, the tech industry has waited too long for standards. Without standards, everyone builds their own variant, and soon nothing will be compatible anymore, he explains. In August 2024, NIST, the U.S. institute for security guidelines and standards, finally published three definitive post-quantum standards. These are FIPS 203 (ML-KEM) for key exchange over secure network connections, FIPS 204 (ML-DSA) for digital signatures (code, firmware, certificates), and FIPS 205 (SLH-DSA) as a hash-based alternative to digital signatures (backup). For the migration, NIST recommends starting with ML-KEM for network protocols such as TLS, as intercepted communications are vulnerable.
The transport layer is the weak link
That is precisely where Veeam’s focus lies. Data written to a backup repository is encrypted using AES-256. Weijdema considers this encryption secure, even against quantum attacks. The risk lies in the transport. Within Veeam, one data mover (or proxy) retrieves the data from the source, after which another data mover writes it to the destination. That traffic is encrypted, but via TLS. According to Weijdema, that connection is actually relatively easy for a quantum computer to crack.
Anyone intercepting the traffic between those two data movers cannot yet eavesdrop on the conversation, but they can record and store it. This is particularly critical for backups, Weijdema argues. In the past, organizations backed up only specific components, but now everything is included. According to him, data is today’s currency, and a backup stream contains the complete picture.
Starting with version 13.1, which was released last summer, Veeam therefore refers to its platform as PQC-ready. Data movers can then communicate using protocols that, as far as Veeam and the rest of the market know, quantum computers cannot crack. Veeam does not build the cryptography for this itself. The company uses OpenSSL, which already includes libraries for FIPS 203, 204, and 205.
A switch for FIPS 140-3
There is one caveat, however. Governments, including U.S. agencies, often require products to be FIPS 140-3 compliant. FIPS 140-3 mandates specific protocols and approved encryption libraries. The PQC algorithms are not yet included in that list.
In practice, this means that if a company enables FIPS mode in Veeam, PQC is automatically disabled. After all, those algorithms are not yet on the list of approved “ingredients.” OpenSSL is currently undergoing the validation process to have the new modules approved under FIPS 140-3. Weijdema hopes to complete this by the end of this year or early 2027.
If that happens, he says, customers won’t need to redesign or redeploy anything. Those running version 13.1 or possibly 13.2 will then be able to combine PQC with FIPS compliance. That was the intention all along, Weijdema explains. Companies are making architectural decisions now and don’t want to go back to the drawing board in a few years. If you don’t prepare, you’ll be reacting after the storm, and by then, it will be too late.
According to him, backups are just the beginning. Websites and applications that users log into must also move in this direction. Otherwise, traffic between the user and the website can also be eavesdropped on and later cracked.
Not just a task for the CISO
Who should take on this responsibility within an organization? Not just the CISO, says Weijdema. He speaks with CISOs who are under so much pressure from the combination of AI and post-quantum threats that they’re considering quitting altogether. He sees it as a shared responsibility of the entire board. He points to regulations under which management can be held jointly and severally liable. A CEO who places the responsibility on the CISO therefore remains responsible as well.
How much quantum knowledge does an IT professional actually need? No one needs to become a quantum physicist, says Weijdema. However, researchers, such as those in Delft, are desperately needed to understand what the technology is truly capable of. He warns against what he calls “scare stories,” such as the idea of a supercomputer acting as a “master key” to gain access everywhere. According to him, the real problem is technical debt. Organizations are good at adopting technology but bad at phasing out outdated systems.
That is precisely why waiting is not an option. The transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography is not a distant prospect, but a strategic choice that must be made today. Weijdema’s message to companies regarding the entire PQC issue is therefore: don’t be afraid of it, but do prepare for it.
Tip: Data security is an illusion without a rock-solid IT foundation