Quantum Risk & Cryptographic Readiness

Project Overview

A global healthcare and research organization partnered with NextTrust.ai to assess its exposure to post-quantum cryptographic risk. With sensitive patient data, intellectual property, and long data-retention requirements, leadership needed to understand how emerging quantum capabilities could impact long-term confidentiality and regulatory compliance.

The objective was to identify cryptographic vulnerabilities, prioritize remediation, and develop a phased transition strategy to quantum-resilient security — without disrupting ongoing operations.

Challenges

No centralized visibility into where cryptography was used across systems and vendors

Long data-retention obligations that increased “harvest now, decrypt later” risk

Legacy applications dependent on outdated or hard-coded encryption methods

Third-party vendors with unclear post-quantum preparedness

Lack of executive-level understanding of quantum security timelines and exposure

Solutions

Conducted a comprehensive Quantum Risk Exposure Assessment across infrastructure, applications, and data flows

Mapped cryptographic usage and identified high-risk systems requiring early transition

Developed a Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) transition roadmap aligned with NIST standards

Established crypto-agility principles to ensure future algorithm updates could be deployed efficiently

Delivered executive briefings and risk dashboards translating technical exposure into board-level risk insight

Results

✓

Leadership gained a clear view of quantum-related security exposure

✓

Organization established a prioritized migration path to quantum-resistant cryptography

✓

Reduced long-term confidentiality risk for sensitive patient and research data

✓

Improved vendor oversight and contract language regarding future cryptographic standards

✓