Science & Tech · Cybersecurity · 2 hrs ago
NIST sets roadmap for US agencies to adopt post-quantum encryption
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a roadmap for moving federal systems to post-quantum cryptography.
The new methods are designed to protect information from future quantum computers, which could break some widely used encryption.
Federal high-value and high-impact systems must adopt quantum-resistant key-establishment methods by December 31, 2030, and digital signatures by December 31, 2031.
A separate federal target sets 2035 for completing the wider migration, while NIST plans to phase out vulnerable public-key methods after 2030 and disallow them under its standards after 2035.
The guidance advises agencies to prioritize information that must stay confidential for many years because attackers could collect encrypted data now and try to read it later.
Moving systems over will take planning across software, hardware, certificates and suppliers, and less critical systems may move later.
Agencies and their technology providers are urged to begin planning and adopting compatible products, while NIST’s guidance sets out how the transition should proceed.
NIST has issued a roadmap to help federal agencies and organizations working with the government move to post-quantum cryptography.
Federal high-value assets and high-impact systems must adopt quantum-resistant key-establishment methods by December 31, 2030, and digital signatures by December 31, 2031.
The guidance recommends prioritizing systems that protect sensitive information that must remain confidential for many years.
It warns that the transition involves software, hardware, certificates, communications protocols and technology suppliers, and may take years.
NIST says quantum-vulnerable public-key cryptography will be deprecated after 2030 and disallowed under its standards and guidelines after 2035.
- Who
- NIST issued the roadmap. It is intended for federal agencies and organizations that work with the federal government.
- What
- The roadmap explains how to transition to post-quantum cryptography and phase out quantum-vulnerable methods.
- When
- NIST published the guidance in October 2026. Key federal deadlines are December 31, 2030, and December 31, 2031.
- Where
- United States.
- Why
- To prepare systems for the risk that future quantum computers could break widely used cryptographic methods, including through “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
NIST released its post-quantum cryptography standards, which the new roadmap builds on.
President Trump’s Executive Order 14412 was published, setting deadlines for federal systems to adopt post-quantum cryptography.
Help Net Security reported that NIST had released its roadmap.
Infosecurity Magazine reported on NIST’s guidance.
Federal high-value assets and high-impact systems must adopt quantum-resistant key-establishment methods.
Federal high-value assets and high-impact systems must adopt quantum-resistant digital signatures.
- Guidance
- NIST IR 8547, Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards
- Key-establishment deadline
- December 31, 2030
- Digital-signature deadline
- December 31, 2031
- Deprecation
- Quantum-vulnerable public-key cryptography after 2030
- Disallowance
- Use under NIST standards and guidelines after 2035
2 sources
What people are saying
We understand there’s not one strategy that fits all use cases, and we want to help people handle their migration while staying abreast of what’s changing,
We lay out how certain encryption algorithms people are using today will get phased out. It’s important to know how a given algorithm might be disallowed in federal systems after a certain date, for instance, or whether it will be allowed but at the user’s own risk. Factors like this can help an organization plan.
These deadlines leave little margin: meeting them will require immediate and sustained action by federal agencies and by the technology providers, standards organizations, and infrastructure operators on which federal systems depend,