Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act August 2024

 PQC’s $7.1 Billion Price Tag

Federal agencies will need to spend about $7.1 billion in the coming years to transition their high-priority IT systems to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) that will become vital to cybersecurity as quantum science advances sufficiently to break through current data encryption methods. That’s the bottom line from a report issued last month by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which said that a large chunk of that estimated spending will be needed to cover the cost of replacing government technology that cannot support new PQC systems. OMB’s report was mandated by the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act signed into law by President Biden in late 2022, and requiring agencies to provide a prioritized inventory of cryptographic systems to the White House by May 2023. The Biden administration’s post-quantum executive order signed in 2022 calls for the transition of cryptographic systems to quantum-resistant cryptography by 2035.