DST Task Force Releases Report on Making India’s Digital Ecosystem Quantum-Safe

A new report from a Task Force of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) lays out a roadmap for making India’s digital ecosystem quantum-safe. The report addresses both a long-term and an urgent threat. Public-key cryptography, which underpins online identity protection and secure communications today, relies on mathematical problems that conventional computers cannot solve efficiently. A sufficiently capable quantum computer running an algorithm such as Shor’s could break this widely used cryptography in a matter of minutes or hours.

Symmetric cryptography, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), is far less exposed to quantum attacks. The greatest risk therefore lies in public-key infrastructure, which secures everything from HTTPS web traffic to telecommunications networks and digital signatures. Even before a fully practical quantum computer arrives, a bad actor can harvest encrypted data today and decrypt it later — sometimes called a “harvest now, decrypt later” attack.

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) refers to algorithms that run on conventional computers but resist quantum attacks. The DST report recommends adopting three post-quantum standards finalised by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2024 and beginning migration to this architecture in a phased manner. It urges particular priority for critical infrastructure, financial services, power grids and defence systems. The migration must continue even if the expected “Q-day” — the day quantum computers practically break legacy cryptography — turns out to be further away than current estimates.

For exam aspirants, the report links India’s National Quantum Mission, the wider cyber-security architecture (CERT-In, the Information Technology Act 2000), the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, and global standardisation efforts in cryptography.