In this episode from January 29, 2026, the Qubit Value podcast confronts the looming security crisis of the "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" threat, where adversaries are already stealing encrypted data to unlock it once quantum computers mature. The discussion centers on the urgent need to migrate to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), highlighting the new NIST-approved standards: ML-KEM (formerly Kyber) for key encapsulation and ML-DSA (formerly Dilithium) for digital signatures. The hosts explain that these algorithms rely on lattice-based mathematics, which creates a multi-dimensional "garden trellis" problem that is bafflingly complex even for quantum machines. A key takeaway is the concept of "Crypto-Agility," treating cryptographic protocols like swappable software modules rather than hard-coded locks, allowing companies to quickly patch vulnerabilities as threats evolve. The episode concludes with a stark warning to executives: the transition isn't an IT upgrade but a foundational rebuild of digital trust, and waiting until 2030 to act is a guaranteed strategy for obsolescence.
