Securing the Future: Post-Quantum Cryptography Security Readiness

Intel® is not just preparing for the quantum era —we’re shaping it by co-authoring global post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards and accelerating hybrid cryptography across client and server ecosystems to secure the digital foundation of tomorrow.

As quantum computing advances toward practical viability, enterprises face an inflection point: the cryptographic foundations securing today’s digital infrastructure are at risk of obsolescence.

The looming threat of “Q-Day”—when quantum computers can break widely used public-key algorithms—has fueled a global shift toward Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). For technical decision-makers, this transition is not just a compliance exercise, but a strategic imperative to safeguard long-lived data, maintain trust, and ensure business continuity.

The Intel 2026 Intel Platform Security Report highlights the company’s strategy for addressing threats, outlining a high-level roadmap towards PQC leadership in its products.

"The emergence of quantum computing — and its potential to undermine today’s cryptography — is creating a security transition that must begin now. Intel has a foundational role in enabling a quantum-safe future. By integrating post-quantum cryptography across our products, platforms, and the ecosystem, Intel is helping customers protect the global infrastructure they depend on. Our commitment is to lead this transition with PQC-enabled products and solutions that help ensure the next generation of computing remains powerful, trusted and secure."

Anand Pashupathy, GM Intel Product Assurance and Security

Demonstrated resilience against “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL) attacks	Increased symmetric key sizes, an approach aligned with guidance from multiple Intel security publications emphasizes near-term mitigations while quantum-resistant standards mature.
Enhanced platform-level protections through code signing and firmware authentication	Intel is deploying CNSA 2.0–compliant PQC algorithms for CPU and SoC firmware. This reflects our focus on protecting the root of trust and ensuring firmware integrity in a quantum-enabled future.
Contributed to the development and adoption of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC standards	Particularly around secure internet protocols that incorporate new digital signature and key establishment mechanisms, Intel helps ensure that both hardware and network layers evolve together.

Intel’s Strategy

From a roadmap and ecosystem perspective, Intel emphasizes deep standards engagement, early technology integration, and full-stack transformation.

Intel has been involved with NIST PQC standardization efforts since 2016 and played a role in advancing algorithms such as SLH-DSA (FIPS 205) for quantum-resistant digital signatures.
The company began introducing PQC capabilities in platforms in 2023, including quantum-resistant microcode authentication and memory encryption in both client systems (Intel® Core™ Ultra Series) and server systems (Intel® Xeon® 6 with P-cores and Intel® Core™ Ultra 200V series processors).

This reflects Intel’s broader approach of embedding PQC directly into silicon features rather than relying solely on software layers.

Looking ahead, Intel has committed to full PQC compliance across all new platforms by 2030 as outlined in the 2026 Intel Platform Security Report. The objective is ensuring that cryptographic agility and quantum resistance are integrated across the entire compute stack—spanning hardware, firmware, and software—positioning enterprises to remain secure through the transition to the post-quantum era.

Driving PQC Readiness

Intel has established itself as a key industry leader in PQC by delivering a comprehensive, deployment-focused portfolio that bridges cutting-edge research, standards contribution, and production-ready technologies.

Through contributions to NIST-standardized algorithms—including SPHINCS+—and deep collaboration with the Open Quantum Safe Project, Intel enables accelerated adoption of PQC across real-world environments.
Intel’s roadmap tracks NIST’s phased transition model—from research and standardization to deployment and full adoption.
Intel began introducing PQC capabilities into commercial platforms in 2023, shortly after NIST announced its first set of standardized algorithms (for example, CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium) and is continuing to expand support for quantum-resistant key establishment and digital signatures across hardware, firmware, and software layers.
The roadmap goal of full PQC integration across all new Intel platforms by 2030 mirrors NIST’s broader migration guidance, which anticipates a multi-year transition period for global infrastructure.
Optimization of lattice-based and hash-based algorithms using advanced instruction sets such as Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 512 (Intel® AVX-512) and hardware accelerators such as Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) demonstrate clear commitment to PQC performance and scalability.

Beyond algorithmic efficiency, Intel extends its leadership into secure implementation practices, addressing emerging risks such as side-channel and fault injection attacks, while integrating PQC into critical protocols like SPDM and TLS.

This full-stack approach—spanning silicon, software libraries, and ecosystem validation—positions Intel as a strategic enabler for cloud service providers (CSPs), OEMs, system integrators, and ODMs, equipping them with the tools, guidance, and confidence needed to transition toward quantum-resilient infrastructures in alignment with evolving standards such as those defined by NIST.