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PQC 101: Introduction

Understand the quantum threat, explore NIST PQC standards, and compare classical vs post-quantum cryptography.

Why this matters: The quantum threat isn't hypothetical: "harvest now, decrypt later" means data you send today can be unlocked the day a quantum computer arrives. This is the ground floor.

Start here: Expand each of the three families in Algorithm Families — lattice, hash and code-based — and play with its visual: add noise to a lattice, watch a hash avalanche, inject bit errors into a code.

For your role

Executive / Business Leader: Start here: why lattice, hash-based and code-based algorithms resist quantum computers, then the side-by-side algorithm comparison; 'harvest now, decrypt later' is the reason the deadline is today, not when the computer arrives.
GRC / Risk & Compliance: The algorithm comparison and the key-size step give the vocabulary every framework and mandate in this site uses; the ground floor for reading a compliance deadline.
Developer / Engineer: Generate a real key pair with OpenSSL and see the size difference, then sign a message: the two operations your code will make with new algorithms.
Security Architect: The side-by-side comparison of classical and post-quantum algorithms with key and signature sizes is the first design input; the rest of the curriculum assumes it.
Researcher / Academic: The three algorithm families and the NIST standards are introduced with their security basis; the workshop generates real keys and signatures to measure.
IT Ops / DevOps: Generate a key pair and see the size difference in the third step: bigger keys and signatures are what change in your certificates, configs and logs.
Curious Explorer: Start here: what a quantum computer can and cannot break, why data captured today is at risk, and what the new algorithms are, in four short steps with a real key pair at the end.

Practice in the Simulation

PQC 101 — The Quantum Threat & What To Do About It

A beginner-friendly introduction to Post-Quantum Cryptography in 5 steps.

Why PQC?

The Quantum Threat

Today's most widely used encryption — and — relies on math problems that are extremely hard for classical computers. But quantum computers using an algorithm called can solve these problems exponentially faster.

What's at risk?

Online banking & payments — TLS connections use RSA/ECC
Government & military secrets — classified data encrypted with RSA
Medical records & personal data — long-lived data at risk from “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later”
Digital signatures & code signing — firmware and software updates (HNFL risk)

Key concept: HNDL

“” (HNDL) is an attack strategy where adversaries collect encrypted data today and store it until quantum computers can break the encryption.

This means data encrypted now with RSA or ECC could be readable in the future. For sensitive data with long lifespans (health records, state secrets), migration must start before quantum computers arrive.

Key concept: HNFL

“” (HNFL) is the signature counterpart to HNDL. Adversaries capture signed artifacts today — firmware images, certificate chains, code-signing blobs — and store them. Once a quantum computer exists, they can forge or repudiate those signatures retroactively.

Unlike HNDL (which targets confidentiality), HNFL targets authenticity and integrity. Long-lived credentials — PKI hierarchies, firmware signing keys, code-signing certificates — must migrate to PQC signing algorithms (, ) before quantum computers mature.

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