Encryption that has quietly protected the internet for decades is approaching its expiration date. As quantum computing advances, enterprises face a once-in-a-generation rebuild of the cryptography sitting underneath every application, device and certificate they own.

That work has shifted from debate to project plan, with organizations moving from planning to execution. Customers have worked through denial and bargaining and finally reached acceptance that quantum readiness cannot wait, according to Amit Sinha (pictured), chief executive officer of DigiCert Inc.

“It is a once in a 30-year upgrade to the core trust foundations of the internet,” Sinha said. “So, it is more like a skyscraper. But the important point I tell every customer is you don’t need to build a skyscraper in one shot. You don’t need the full final blueprint. You need to start with the foundations, build the next floor and then stack up floors on top.”

Sinha spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier, executive analyst of theCUBE Research, at World Quantum Readiness Day, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. (* Disclosure below.)

Encryption inventory is the first step toward quantum safety

The obstacle is rarely belief anymore. It is the sheer surface area of a migration that touches every cryptographic asset in the enterprise, and the teams asked to run it have long been starved of budget.

“I think it’s the scope of the project,” Sinha said. “In many cases, PKI teams who are underfunded and now they look at this massive, Y2K-like times 10 event that is going to hit them. What we tell customers is you don’t need a perfect inventory, you need a good enough inventory. Identify crown jewels in your application suite that you want to attack first.”

That inventory of machines, software and libraries becomes the basis for what the industry now calls cryptographic posture — a risk assessment DigiCert surfaces through Quantum Central, launched in July. Shrinking certificate lifetimes are pushing the same automation agenda, Sinha noted.

“The road to crypto agility with the 47-day mandate is kind of the same road to post-quantum cryptography,” he said. “Both of those deadlines are now 2029. So, having a good system in place, bringing public and private PKI together, having last-mile automation capabilities that give you crypto agility, foundational steps — both for the 47-day mandate that we have today and the migration to post-quantum cryptography.”

Public key infrastructure modernization and encryption migration, in other words, are one program rather than two.

“Prioritize the migration to quantum safety,” Sinha said. “PKI modernization is long overdue. And the deadline to do that is 2029. If you don’t start today, you’re already out of time.”

Stay tuned for the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of World Quantum Readiness Day

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for DigiCert’s World Quantum Readiness Day. Neither DigiCert, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE