Resources / PQC Migration Hub
PQC migration, start to done.
PQC migration is the process of moving an organization's cryptography from quantum-vulnerable public-key algorithms (RSA, elliptic curve) to NIST post-quantum standards, run in five phases: inventory every place you use cryptography, prioritize by data lifespan and exposure, pilot on low-risk systems, migrate in order of risk, and verify that systems negotiate the new algorithms. Governments have set deadlines running from 2027 to 2035, and large organizations should expect it to take years, not months.
The dates that matter
- NIST finalized the first three post-quantum standards, FIPS 203 (ML-KEM), 204 (ML-DSA), and 205 (SLH-DSA), on August 13, 2024.
- The earliest hard U.S. date is January 1, 2027, when new National Security Systems acquisitions must be CNSA 2.0 compliant.
- Executive Order 14412 requires U.S. federal high-priority systems to use PQC key establishment by December 31, 2030 and PQC signatures by December 31, 2031.
- The U.S., UK, EU, and Canada all converge on 2035 for full migration.
- The UK NCSC expects large organizations to need two to three years for discovery and planning alone.
How long it takes
- Small enterprises
- 5 to 7 years
- Medium enterprises
- 8 to 12 years
- Large enterprises
- 12 to 15+ years
The five phases
How PQC migration works.
Each phase links to the full guide for that step. Together they turn a high-level mandate into a tracked, defensible program.
Inventory your cryptography
You cannot migrate what you cannot see. Build a living cryptographic inventory and store it as a cryptographic bill of materials (CBOM). The NCSC expects large organizations to complete discovery by 2028.
How to build a cryptographic inventory and CBOMPrioritize by exposure and tractability
Rank systems by data shelf life, exposure, and how hard they are to change. Address harvest-now-decrypt-later risk first: long-lived sensitive data and external-facing trust anchors.
Where to start when everything feels urgentPilot on low-risk systems
Test the new algorithms where failure is cheap. Use hybrid key exchange (a classical algorithm combined with a post-quantum one) where full migration must wait, and measure latency and handshake size before you commit.
The step-by-step migration roadmapMigrate in order of risk
Move key establishment first, then signatures and PKI. Build crypto agility as you go, so the next algorithm change is a configuration swap, not a code release. NIST already added HQC as a backup to ML-KEM.
What crypto agility is and how to build itVerify and track against the deadlines
Confirm systems negotiate the new algorithms and do not silently fall back, then track progress against the mandates that apply to you. Map each finding to the regulation and deadline it answers.
Global mandates and deadlines comparedBy surface
Where quantum-vulnerable cryptography hides.
Migration is not one problem. It is five surfaces, each on its own clock, including the OT and AI systems most tools never reach.
Cloud, IT & OT
Cryptography hides in certificates, libraries, protocols, firmware, and machine identities across cloud, IT, and operational-technology estates. Running it from one roadmap beats four uncoordinated tools.
Running PQC migration from one dashboardAI systems
Production AI stacks carry quantum-vulnerable cryptography in model signing, confidential-compute attestation, and agent identity, layers most bill-of-materials tools never reach.
The quantum-vulnerable AI stackBlockchain & Web3
Every public key ever transacted is already published to an immutable ledger, so pre-launch is the only clean migration path. Harvested keys cannot be rotated after the fact.
The ledger already harvestedHow ArcQubit helps
Discovery feeds the migration.
QuCode finds the exposure across five surfaces; QuTrust runs the migration as a living roadmap with audit-ready evidence.
QuCode, the scanner
PQC discovery and inventory across Cloud, IT, OT, AI, and blockchains. Reads your existing scanner output and produces a ranked Quantum Exposure Report.
Explore QuCodeQuTrust, the platform
The full-stack PQC migration platform: risk scoring, mandate mapping, and audit-ready output, built for the multi-year run to the 2035 deadline.
See the softwareFAQ
PQC migration, answered.
PQC migration is the process of moving an organization's cryptography from quantum-vulnerable public-key algorithms, such as RSA and elliptic curve, to NIST post-quantum standards (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA). It runs in five phases: inventory, prioritize, pilot, migrate, and verify, without redesigning the systems underneath.
Years, not months. The UK NCSC expects large organizations to need two to three years for discovery and planning alone, and independent enterprise research estimates 5 to 7 years for small organizations, 8 to 12 for medium, and 12 to 15 or more for large ones.
The earliest hard U.S. date is January 1, 2027 for new National Security Systems acquisitions (CNSA 2.0). Executive Order 14412 sets federal key establishment by December 31, 2030 and signatures by December 31, 2031, and the U.S., UK, EU, and Canada converge on 2035 for full migration.
Start with a cryptographic inventory, because you cannot rank systems you cannot see. Then prioritize by data lifespan and exposure, addressing harvest-now-decrypt-later risk first. The NCSC directs organizations to begin discovery and planning by 2028.
Migrate key establishment first, because data captured today can be decrypted once a cryptographically relevant quantum computer exists. Then move signatures and PKI in risk order, prioritizing long-lived sensitive data and external-facing trust anchors.
The finalized NIST standards: ML-KEM (FIPS 203) for key establishment, ML-DSA (FIPS 204) for signatures, and SLH-DSA (FIPS 205) as a hash-based backup, with HQC selected as an additional backup to ML-KEM. Hybrid key exchange is used during transitional rollouts.