DC303: Post-Quantum Cybersecurity: Exploring the Quantum Threat Landscape
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Speaker: Saad Baig
Quantum computing is moving from a theoretical threat to a looming security crisis, and asymmetric cryptography is right in the crosshairs. This talk breaks down exactly how Shor’s algorithm dismantles the public-key foundations—like RSA and ECC—that secure everything from our web traffic to our identities.
We’ll cut through the hype to look at immediate, real-world risks—like "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" and "Trust Now, Forge Later"—to help you pinpoint which of your systems and data are most vulnerable based on their lifespan and value. From there, we’ll dive into NIST’s new post-quantum standards and look at what they actually mean for your PKI, TLS, and enterprise architecture.
To bridge the gap between theory and execution, I'll introduce pqcscan, an open source tool built to scan your infrastructure and hunt down vulnerable public-key implementations before adversaries can exploit them. We’ll wrap up by weighing the tradeoffs of post-quantum cryptography, hybrid rollouts, and quantum key distribution. You'll walk away with a no-nonsense action plan for crypto agility, asset discovery, and the exact steps needed to build a quantum-resilient future.
Want to get involved? Check out our website at dc303.org !