May 18, 2026

By Gina Scinta, Deputy CTO, Thales Trusted Cyber Technologies

Has your agency begun its strategy for transitioning to post-quantum cryptography (PQC)? If you’re not fairly far along now, you’re actually a bit behind. New guidance from the administration this past March, along with a memo from the Department of War last year, is ramping up the urgency. In fact, some of the stalwart cryptographic solutions used in the federal sector will be given the axe in the next five years.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can follow to start gearing up for your PQC transition. We’ll address those steps in a moment, but let’s first understand the context of this increasingly pressing need for dealing with security in a post quantum world.