Quantum frontiers may be closer than they appear

Google’s introducing a 2029 timeline to secure the quantum era with post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration.

Last month, we called to secure the quantum era before a future quantum computer can break current encryption. This new timeline reflects migration needs for the PQC era in light of progress on quantum computing hardware development, quantum error correction, and quantum factoring resource estimates.

As a pioneer in both quantum and PQC, it’s our responsibility to lead by example and share an ambitious timeline. By doing this, we hope to provide the clarity and urgency needed to accelerate digital transitions not only for Google, but also across the industry.

Quantum computers will pose a significant threat to current cryptographic standards, and specifically to encryption and digital signatures. The threat to encryption is relevant today with store-now-decrypt-later attacks, while digital signatures are a future threat that require the transition to PQC prior to a Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer (CRQC). That’s why we’ve adjusted our threat model to prioritize PQC migration for authentication services — an important component of online security and digital signature migrations. We recommend that other engineering teams follow suit.

As an example of our ongoing PQC commitments, Android 17 is integrating PQC digital signature protection using ML-DSA in alignment with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This continues to put advanced PQC technology directly into the hands of our customers, building on our Google Chrome support for PQC, providing PQC solutions in Cloud and insights and guidance for leaders on their PQC Journey.

Stay tuned for more updates on our PQC transition.