Post-Quantum Crypto Migration Starts Before Q Day

Post-quantum crypto migration is not a “later, when quantum computers arrive” problem. In a new Elektor TV clip from Elektor Academy Pro’s Post-Quantum Cryptography conference, Klaus Schmeh of Eviden Digital Identity explains why long-lived systems need attention years before a cryptographically relevant quantum computer appears. For embedded and IoT engineers, the awkward part is not only choosing new algorithms; it is finding every place where cryptography is already hiding.

Post-Quantum Crypto Migration: Watch the Clip

The timing problem depends on more than Q Day itself. If a device, credential, smartcard, industrial controller, or secure update chain has to remain trustworthy for many years, the useful planning window is shorter than it first appears. A system can be technically “working” today and still be on the wrong side of the calendar.

The Standards Are Here, but the Work Is Not Done

The background has shifted from research topic to engineering schedule. In August 2024, NIST finalized its first three standards: ML-KEM for key encapsulation, and ML-DSA and SLH-DSA for digital signatures. That gives designers a firmer target, but it does not magically update products in the field. Keys, certificates, bootloaders, smartcards, secure elements, factory provisioning tools, test procedures, and remote update mechanisms may all make assumptions that were perfectly reasonable before PQC became a practical design requirement.

That is why post-quantum crypto migration starts with inventory. Engineers need to know where RSA, ECC, key exchange, certificate validation, secure boot, and signed firmware updates sit in the product. They also need to know which parts can be changed in software, which depend on hardware blocks, and which are effectively frozen once the unit ships. Anyone who has ever tried to update a deployed embedded product knows that “we will patch it later” can be a heroic comedy in four acts, usually with the bootloader playing the villain.

For Embedded Systems, Timing Is the Problem

Embedded systems make the PQC problem more stubborn because they often have long service lives, tight memory limits, bandwidth constraints, fixed hardware security features, and slow certification cycles. The UK National Cyber Security Centre’s official roadmap gives a useful signal: define goals and complete discovery by 2028, carry out early high-priority migration by 2031, and complete broad migration by 2035. The exact dates may vary by sector, but the shape of the work is clear. PQC is not a single library update. It is lifecycle planning.

Watch the video for a short, practical way to start the conversation with colleagues who still regard quantum-safe cryptography as a distant problem. Elektor is also continuing the topic with a technical webinar with NXP on how post-quantum cryptography moves from standards into real embedded products.

If the product is meant to last, the cryptography plan has to last with it.