Manage This - The Project Management Podcast Episode 244 – Post-Quantum Cryptography: Leading Projects When Technology Shifts
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Mar 2, 2026 Chris Basener, an information security manager focused on aligning cybersecurity with business goals and quantum-safe strategies. He explains qubits and how quantum risks threaten long-lived data. Topics include the “harvest now, decrypt later” risk, how quantum breaks current encryption, where organizations are testing post-quantum cryptography, and practical steps for starting PQC migrations and governance.
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How Qubits Differ From Classical Bits
- Quantum computers use qubits in superposition so they can evaluate many possibilities at once rather than sequentially like classical bits.
- Chris Basener compares a qubit to a spinning coin and emphasizes quantum use cases like drug discovery and optimization problems.
Why Quantum Breaks RSA Encryption
- Shor's algorithm lets quantum computers factor large primes quickly, threatening RSA-style asymmetric encryption.
- Chris Basener explains RSA's security relies on multiplication being easy and factorization hard for classical computers, but quantum changes that math hardness.
The Harvest Now Decrypt Later Threat
- 'Harvest now, decrypt later' means attackers can steal encrypted data today and decrypt it later when quantum breaks current algorithms.
- Basener cites estimates that RSA-2048 could be breakable around 2030 and stresses long-lived data is most at risk.
