Quantum Computing
Separate the hype from the threat. The essentials on what quantum computers can do, what they cannot, and what your board should do now.
Quantum computing uses qubits to run algorithms that threaten RSA and elliptic-curve encryption, and nobody can say when quantum computers will break encryption: 26 surveyed experts put a machine able to do it within ten years at 28 to 49 percent.
Why it matters now
March 2026
The Global Risk Institute's Quantum Threat Timeline Report 2025 surveyed 26 experts. They called a cryptographically relevant quantum computer “quite possible (28-49%)” within ten years and “likely (51-70%)” within 15. Plan on a range, not a date.
November 2025
DARPA named 11 companies for Stage B of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative on 6 November 2025, to test whether anyone can build an industrially useful computer by 2033. Hardware claims now face an independent yardstick, and DARPA's page of 8 October 2026 lists six companies in the later verification stage, so ask suppliers where they stand.
November 2024
NIST's draft IR 8547, published 12 November 2024, sets out the move away from quantum-vulnerable algorithms. The draft proposes deprecating 112-bit RSA and elliptic-curve schemes after 2030 and disallowing quantum-vulnerable public-key schemes after 2035. It is still a draft, so expect auditors to ask about those dates before it is final.
The 9 things
The essentials, in the order we would explain them to a board. Each ends with one lecture from our archive, given by a named practitioner.
Shor's algorithm threatens RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography, the public-key schemes behind key exchange and signatures. The NCSC states that the best mitigation is quantum-safe cryptography, which runs on today's computers. Name which of your systems use public-key cryptography first.
Quantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyondKamalika Datta, Research Assistant About 40 minMembers In March 2026, 26 surveyed experts put a cryptographically relevant machine at 28 to 49 percent within ten years. Gidney's May 2025 paper cut the estimate for RSA-2048 to under one million noisy qubits, and Google's March 2026 paper puts the 256-bit curve secp256k1 under 500,000 physical qubits. The direction of travel is down.
Error, or What? IQM's Perspective on Quantum AlgorithmsSylwia Barthel de Weydenthal, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) About 40 minMembers Google's secp256k1 circuits need about 1,200 to 1,450 logical qubits, which it puts at fewer than 500,000 physical qubits on a superconducting machine with error rates near one in a thousand. That is hundreds of physical qubits per logical one. A supplier quoting a big physical count without error rates has told you little.
Make quantum computing useful with performance enhancing infrastructure softwareNiall Moroney, Lead Solutions Engineer About 40 minMembers DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative put 11 companies into Stage B in November 2025 and asks whether an industrially useful computer is possible by 2033. Its page of 8 October 2026 lists six companies in Stage C, the independent verification phase, four of them promoted from Stage B. Read it as a gate, not a forecast.
Defence applications on ORCA quantum photonic systemsPer Nyberg, Chief Commercial Officer About 40 minMembers Finance is a frequent pitch, so test claims there. A lecture in our archive puts the question bluntly in its title. Insist that any quoted speed-up names the workload, the classical method it beat and the hardware that ran it. DARPA runs benchmarks because those answers are not yet routine.
Applications of Quantum Computing in Finance – Gamechanger of just Hype?Gerhard Hellstern, Professor of Finance and Data Science About 40 minMembers The US Commerce Department imposed worldwide export controls on quantum computers, components, software and technology in an interim final rule of September 2024, and says several allied countries have set national controls of their own. Procurement teams meet this late. Ask each supplier which controls apply to the system you are buying and to the staff who will operate it, and keep the answer in the contract file.
Export Controls and The Quantum EcoSystemZeki C. Seskir, Doctorial Researcher About 40 minMembers A telecoms technical lead has given a lecture on talent acquisition and retention in quantum technology in the UK. For a buyer, the risk is staff turnover mid-project. Ask how many named engineers support your deployment and who covers them if they leave.
Talent Acquisition and Retention in Quantum Tech. Challenges in the UK.Julio Gonzalez-Saenz, Technical Lead About 40 minMembers ISO and IEC launched a joint quantum committee, JTC 3, in January 2024, with a scope covering quantum computing, simulation, sources, metrology, detectors and communications. Until standards settle, specify open interfaces and data export rights, so a start-up's failure does not strand your workload. A purchase that locks you to one vendor's format is a bet on that vendor surviving.
Quantum, standardisation and start-upsOskar van Deventer, Convenor About 40 minMembers NIST published FIPS 203, 204 and 205 on 13 August 2024. The EU's coordinated roadmap, issued 23 June 2025, asks Member States to start national transition plans by the end of 2026, complete the move for high-risk use cases by the end of 2030 and for medium-risk ones by the end of 2035. Build the inventory, rank systems by how long their secrets must last, and start there.
Beyond AI Reality: Managing Innovation Quantum Risk & OpportunityBill Wisotsky, Principal Quantum Systems Architect About 40 minMembers Expert lectures
Every quantum computing lecture in the QSECDEF archive, from hardware makers, researchers, regulators and buyers. Members first, then the rest. Pick the one closest to the decision on your desk.
Quantum Applications Architect in Classiq
LectureHigh-level Quantum Software Development and Quantum Applications for Defense & Cybersecurity.
AI Researcher, Airbus AI Research (XRD),
LectureEnhancing AI with Quantum Computing for Aerospace Data Analysis
Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science and Engineering
LectureUnderstanding Quantum Optimization
LectureBuilding Effective Quantum Communities
LectureMotivating recent advances in quantum LDPC codes
LectureQuantum Technology in the Financial Industry and Private Banking
LectureBeyond AI Reality: Managing Innovation Quantum Risk & Opportunity
President of Brooks Consulting International
LectureHow emerging technologies such as AI, Quantum and 5G are impacting security and privacy.
LectureBeyond AI Reality in the Age of Quantum
LectureAutomated packaging for photonic quantum systems
Head of the Swiss Financial Innovation Desk
LectureThe Future Of Quantum In Finance
VP of Quantum Systems and Solutions
LectureEdge Quantum Computing
Professor of Finance and Data Science
LectureApplications of Quantum Computing in Finance – Gamechanger of just Hype?
LectureTalent Acquisition and Retention in Quantum Tech. Challenges in the UK.
LectureQuantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyond
Founder and CEO
LectureQuantum Inspired Solutions
LectureQuantum Technology in the Financial Industry and Private Banking
Professor of Theoretical Physics
LectureDetecting Graph Characteristics Using Quantum Programming
LectureToward quantum-enhanced data centers
Senior Project Services Manager
LectureQuantum advantage in Data Centers
LectureMake quantum computing useful with performance enhancing infrastructure software
Convenor
LectureQuantum, standardisation and start-ups
LectureQuantum Certification On-Chain
LectureDefence applications on ORCA quantum photonic systems
LectureBuilding Quantum AI at Scale
LectureHow Global Businesses Can Start with Quantum—Without the Headache?
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
LectureError, or What? IQM's Perspective on Quantum Algorithms
LectureThe pivotal role of quantum memories in building a fully secured quantum network
CEO and President
LectureWhat Is a "Quantum Foundry
LectureNew Challenges in Quantum Communications: Applied Use Cases in the UAE and Global Ambitions
Doctorial Researcher
LectureExport Controls and The Quantum EcoSystem
LectureQuantum for Military Applications
View profileThe dated sources on this page run from November 2024 to March 2026, and in that window the qubit estimates for breaking public-key encryption fell by a large factor. A one-off course is a snapshot. Weekly learning is a feed, and a feed is what keeps your timeline honest.
Your membership includes the introductory quantum cyber security and quantum resilient blockchain courses, plus the Business Bootcamp. Each ends in a certificate, so your team can study at its own pace and show what it completed.
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More than 170 lectures from practising experts sit in the member library. Topics run from post-quantum cryptography and QKD to sensing, PNT and quantum business. Watch when your diary allows, then return to the ones you need.
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We commit to publishing a new training course every 90 days, so the programme keeps pace with the field. Your membership covers each one as it goes live, with no extra fee for the course.
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Members save 25% on partner training and certifications, including the CPQCPM Post Quantum Cryptography Programme Manager certification. The discount applies at booking, so the saving comes before you pay.
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Become a memberTraining path
Ten modules, about 22 hours online at your own pace, including a session on understanding quantum computing. The first session is free, each session earns a certificate of attendance, and members may sit the Certified Business Professional exam. It is quantum computing training that assumes no physics.
View the courseQuantum Cyber Security Foundation. Four to five hours, six modules, a QSECDEF certificate, included in membership. It covers the threat side that this page keeps returning to.
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Nobody can give a date. In the Global Risk Institute's March 2026 survey, 26 experts called a machine able to break today's public-key encryption quite possible (28-49%) within ten years and likely (51-70%) within 15. Resource estimates keep falling: RSA-2048 needs under one million noisy qubits on Gidney's assumptions. Plan on the range.
Yes, because data encrypted today can be stolen now and decrypted later, a pattern known as harvest now, decrypt later or store now, decrypt later. Standards exist: NIST published FIPS 203, 204 and 205 in August 2024. Migration takes years, so begin with an inventory of what you encrypt and how long it must stay secret.
Today's machines are research and pilot tools rather than production systems for most work. DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative exists to test whether an industrially useful computer is possible by 2033, which tells you the question is open. Check any claim of commercial advantage against a classical baseline.
The Quantum Business Bootcamp. It has ten modules, about 22 hours of online study at your own pace, and a session on understanding quantum computing. The first session is free, and members can sit the Certified Business Professional exam. The four-to-five-hour Quantum Cyber Security Foundation is the shorter alternative.
We take guidance from the following open frameworks for technical education: EQAVET, the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training; the European Union Council Recommendation on micro-credentials; the CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines; and WCAG 2.2, the web accessibility standard. Educational oversight: QSECDEF Advisory Board. Feedback, errors, omissions and updates: QSECDEF Community.
