{"slug": "quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data", "title": "Quantum Computers Will Break RSA. Some Are Already Harvesting Your Data.", "summary": "A blog post outlines a four-phase migration to post-quantum cryptography, warning that nation-states are already intercepting and storing encrypted traffic for later decryption under a \"Harvest Now, Decrypt Later\" strategy. It cites NIST's finalized standards from August 2024 — FIPS 203 (ML-KEM/Kyber), FIPS 204 (ML-DSA/Dilithium), FIPS 205 (SLH-DSA/SPHINCS+) and FIPS 206 (FN-DSA/FALCON) — and recommends hybrid deployments pairing X25519 with ML-KEM-768, packet fragmentation work to handle signatures roughly 40x larger than ECDSA, and cryptographic agility via OpenSSL 3.x providers or PKCS#11.", "body_md": "Nation-states are intercepting and storing encrypted traffic today, waiting for fault-tolerant quantum machines to decrypt it later. This is \"Harvest Now, Decrypt Later\" — and it's why migration can't wait for 2030.\n\nNIST's finalized standards (Aug 2024):\n\nFIPS 203 — ML-KEM (Kyber) for encryption and key exchange\n\nFIPS 204 — ML-DSA (Dilithium) for primary signatures\n\nFIPS 205 — SLH-DSA (SPHINCS+) as hash-based backup\n\nFIPS 206 — FN-DSA (FALCON) for compact IoT signatures\n\nThe 4-phase migration:\n\nCryptographic Bill of Materials — Passive scanners catalog every TLS cipher suite, PKI cert, and code-signing key. Prioritize data with 10+ year shelf life.\n\nHybrid deployment — Never hard-cutover. Combine X25519 with ML-KEM-768. Attackers must break both simultaneously. Browsers and CDNs already support this.\n\nPacket fragmentation optimization — ECDSA signatures are ~64 bytes. ML-DSA-44 is over 2,400 bytes. That 40x increase breaks legacy firewalls and MTU limits.\n\nCryptographic agility — Decouple algorithms from source code via OpenSSL 3.x providers or PKCS#11. If lattice math falls, swap in hash-based backups with zero downtime.\n\nPQC vs. QKD: PQC runs on existing hardware as software. QKD needs dedicated fiber-optic lasers and single-photon equipment.\n\nFull read: [https://www.nizover.com/en/blog/tech-post-quantum-cryptography-nist-migration-guide](https://www.nizover.com/en/blog/tech-post-quantum-cryptography-nist-migration-guide)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/nizover/quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data-323e", "published_at": "2026-10-29 09:08:54+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-29 09:17:09.912074+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["NIST", "ML-KEM", "Kyber", "ML-DSA", "Dilithium", "SLH-DSA", "SPHINCS+", "OpenSSL"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/quantum-computers-will-break-rsa-some-are-already-harvesting-your-data.jsonld"}}