The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is urging organizations to protect their systems against potential attacks by quantum hackers by 2035. This warning comes as advancements in powerful computing technologies pose a threat to digital encryption. The NCSC advises large entities such as energy and transport providers to introduce “post-quantum cryptography” to prevent quantum technology from being used to breach their systems.

Currently, quantum computers are still in development, but they have the potential to solve the complex mathematical problems that underlie asymmetric public key cryptography, a common encryption method used in various everyday situations like mobile phone usage and online banking. The speed and power of quantum computing make it a significant threat to encryption, according to the NCSC.

The NCSC recommends that large organizations identify services that need to be upgraded by 2028, perform the most important overhauls by 2031, and complete the migration to a new encryption system by 2035. This guidance aims to ensure that confidential information remains secure in the future.

Traditional computers encode information in bits represented as 0s or 1s, but quantum computers use qubits, which can encode various combinations of 1s and 0s simultaneously. This capability allows quantum computers to perform vast calculations and solve complex problems that were previously thought to be impossible.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/20/uk-cybersecurity-agency-quantum-hackers