QuSecure joins NIST project on post-quantum migration

QuSecure is joining the National Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence's Migration to Post-Quantum Cryptography Project Consortium. The initiative focuses on helping organisations move from current public-key algorithms to post-quantum alternatives.

The consortium addresses a growing security concern as quantum computing advances. Public-key cryptography is widely used across digital systems, and the project is designed to tackle the technical and operational challenges of replacing algorithms that could become vulnerable.

As a contributing member, QuSecure will work alongside vendors focused on automated cryptography discovery and inventory, as well as suppliers of post-quantum cryptography tools. Its role includes testing solutions in NCCoE lab environments to assess how those tools perform in enterprise settings and across different use cases.

QuSecure also plans to share technical expertise and insights into deployment barriers as the consortium develops migration approaches. The aim is to improve interoperability, implementation performance, and coordination with standards bodies and industry sectors.

The project forms part of broader efforts led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to prepare organisations for a shift in cryptography. NIST has been developing and standardising algorithms designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers, while the consortium is intended to help businesses identify where existing systems still rely on vulnerable public-key methods.

Migration challenge

The task goes beyond a simple software update. Organisations often use public-key cryptography across hardware, applications, network services, and third-party systems, making discovery and replacement difficult at scale.

The NCCoE project's initial scope is to demonstrate how automated discovery tools can identify widely deployed instances of quantum-vulnerable public-key algorithms and help manage the associated risks. Other goals include improving migration strategy, interoperability, and implementation performance, while supporting outreach to standards-developing organisations and industry sectors.

William Newhouse, Security Engineer at the NIST National Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, outlined the rationale for the work.

"Public-key cryptography is widely used to protect today's digital information," said William Newhouse, Security Engineer, NIST National Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence. "With the advent of quantum computing, and its potential to compromise many of the current cryptographic algorithms, it is critical that organizations begin to plan for many of the technological and operational challenges that a migration to post-quantum cryptography will present. This project aims to help organizations in that effort."

The collaboration brings QuSecure into a public-private effort involving government, industry, and academic participants. The NCCoE, part of NIST, was established as a centre where those groups can work together on practical cybersecurity solutions for industry-specific and cross-sector problems.

Industry role

For QuSecure, the work provides a formal role in shaping how migration practices are tested in lab settings before wider adoption. It will work with other consortium members to understand how enterprise tools operate in real environments and where current approaches may fall short.

Garfield Jones, Senior Vice President of Research & Technology Strategy at QuSecure, said the transition to post-quantum cryptography is becoming a central issue for security teams.

"This collaboration with the NCCoE brings industry leaders together to tackle one of today's most pressing cybersecurity challenges - the transition to post-quantum cryptography," said Garfield Jones, Senior Vice President, Research & Technology Strategy, QuSecure. "By working across government, industry, and academia, we can help organizations identify quantum-vulnerable systems, manage risk, and prepare for a secure, quantum-resilient future."

The consortium's work reflects a broader shift in cyber policy and enterprise planning as organisations move from discussing quantum risk in theory to assessing where cryptographic exposure already exists. For many businesses, that means building inventories of algorithms in use, understanding dependencies across systems, and setting priorities for replacement long before large-scale quantum attacks become practical.

By focusing first on automated discovery, performance testing, and migration planning, the NCCoE project aims to provide a clearer path for organisations that need to update cryptographic systems without disrupting existing operations.