Quantum Agility, not just safety, is key to future-ready cybersecurity, warns Uday Shankar Kizhepat of WSO2, as quantum threats loom over today’s encrypted data.

At the turn of the millennium, businesses worldwide scrambled to prepare for Y2K. The fear was that ageing computer systems would collapse under the pressure of the date change from 1999 to 2000, crashing systems that ran banks, governments, and even aircraft. As we look ahead to the next decade, a new acronym is making the rounds: Y2Q. Stepping out of the realm of science fiction, we’re likely to soon witness the year powerful quantum computing becomes a reality.

This time, however, the problem isn’t simply correcting a date. It’s about redefining the very foundations of digital trust. And while the urgency may not feel as immediate, the stakes are arguably higher. The shift from classical to quantum computing isn’t a single moment in time. It’s a fast-approaching inevitability with ramifications that will play out over years to come. So, rather than focus on quantum “readiness” alone, organisations need to prepare for something more dynamic: Quantum Agility.

What’s at Stake in the Quantum Era

We live comfortably in the digital world because of a foundational layer of security, public key infrastructure (PKI). It’s what makes your bank transactions secure, ensures your government IDs can’t be tampered with, and keeps your company’s internal communications private. Encryption algorithms such as RSA, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), and SHA-256 power everything from digital certificates and secure web browsing (TLS) to cryptocurrencies.

These algorithms are effective today because classical computers don’t have the computational muscle to break them in a practical timeframe. However, quantum computers operate fundamentally differently. Once they mature, which experts estimate sometime between 2030 and 2035, they could crack RSA-2048 encryption not in decades, but mere hours.

The danger isn’t just in the future. The “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” tactic means attackers today could be intercepting and storing encrypted data, waiting for the moment quantum machines become powerful enough to decrypt it. So even if quantum computing is still years away, the data you produce right now is already vulnerable.

Consider the real-world implications

A financial institution operating in Riyadh might have customer records, transaction histories, and authentication data dating back a decade. If those are intercepted today and decrypted in 10 years, the fallout from identity theft to financial fraud would be devastating. A government agency in Abu Dhabi managing critical national infrastructure could face compromised security protocols. In aviation, where manufacturers and airlines rely on encrypted systems for maintenance data, passenger manifests, and flight telemetry, the consequences could be catastrophic with even human lives at stake.

Why IAM Is the High-Stakes Battlefield

While all digital systems need to evolve to become quantum-safe, one area requires immediate attention, Identity and Access Management (IAM). Today, IAM solutions serve as the digital gatekeepers of an organisation. Every employee login, every third-party system integration, and every customer authentication journey passes through this layer. From encrypting passwords to issuing security tokens and ensuring encrypted communication, IAM systems are built on cryptography.

If quantum computing renders today’s encryption obsolete, the IAM layer becomes the weakest link. And once compromised, attackers don’t just gain access to one system, they gain access to everything behind it.

Imagine the IAM system in a major developer in the UAE being breached. Sensitive procurement data, strategic project timelines, and even customer identities could all be at risk. This makes quantum-safety in IAM not just a cybersecurity issue, but a business continuity one.

It’s Not Just About Safety, It’s About Agility

The good news is that the industry has recognised the threat and quantum-safe algorithms are being developed. But the field is evolving rapidly. Just as the AI chatbots of just a decade ago perform laughably compared to today’s powerful LLMs, what’s considered quantum-safe today might not hold up to tomorrow’s tech advancements. That’s why crypto-agility, the ability to quickly and easily swap out cryptographic algorithms is just as important as quantum safety itself.

Think of crypto-agility like software updates. You don’t want to rebuild your entire security architecture every time a better encryption standard is released. You want the flexibility to slot new components into existing systems with minimal friction.

This is where forward-thinking vendors like WSO2 are leading the charge. Rather than hard-coding cryptography into systems, these companies are embedding crypto-agility into the DNA of their solutions. This enables businesses to adapt to new quantum-safe standards as they emerge, without costly and time-consuming overhauls.

And this is not just a technical nicety, it’s a strategic imperative. In a region like the Middle East, where digital transformation is accelerating across banking, aviation, real estate, and public services, the ability to pivot swiftly and securely will define market leaders over the next decade.

Laying the Groundwork Today for Tomorrow’s Reality

If the past two decades of digital innovation have taught us anything, it’s that resilience comes from flexibility. The businesses that survived and thrived through multiple waves of disruption were those that invested in strong foundations, built with future adaptability in mind.

Quantum computing may still sound like science fiction to some, but the groundwork for its impact is already being laid. The security protocols we adopt today must not only shield data in the present, but safeguard it for the future. That’s why the shift from quantum-safety to quantum-agility isn’t just a technical nuance.

The start of the next decade isn’t far away. The time to act is now. Invest in systems that allow you to adapt, pivot, and protect, not just against what’s coming, but against what’s already here, hidden in plain sight.

By Uday Shankar Kizhepat, Vice President and GM – MEA, WSO2 

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