Start Here, Free
The quantum threat to cryptography is real, the standards are finalized, and the migration is already underway. If you are trying to understand what that means, for your organization, your career, or just your own understanding, this free one-hour course is the place to start.
It is also a genuine sample of how Quantum Academy teaches: structured, evidence-based, vendor-independent, and built for working professionals. No fear-selling, no hype, no padding. If you find this course useful, our full programs apply the same approach in much greater depth.
What This Course Covers
In about an hour, you will come away able to:
- Explain, in plain terms, why quantum computers threaten the cryptography that protects data today
- Understand the difference between the quantum computing milestones in the headlines and the specific capability that would actually break encryption
- Recognize the harvest-now-decrypt-later threat and why it makes the timeline shorter than it appears
- Identify what NIST has standardized and what a migration involves at a high level
- Know where to go next if you want to build real competence
Course Outline
Part 1, The Threat (about 20 minutes)
What quantum computers can and cannot do. Why public-key cryptography is vulnerable and symmetric cryptography is less so. The difference between quantum advantage and a cryptographically relevant quantum computer. Why no one can give you a firm date, and why that does not mean you can wait.
Part 2 – Why Now (about 20 minutes)
The harvest-now-decrypt-later threat: data being collected today for future decryption. Trust-now-forge-later: the risk to digital signatures. The regulatory deadlines, insurance pressures, and client expectations creating urgency independent of when a quantum computer arrives.
Part 3, What Comes Next (about 20 minutes)
What NIST standardized and why it matters. What a post-quantum migration involves at a high level. How organizations are approaching it. Where to go from here if you want to develop real skills, lead a migration, or earn a credential.
Who This Is For
Anyone curious about quantum security: security professionals, IT staff, managers, people studying the field, and the simply curious. No technical or cryptography background is required.
Format
Free. Self-paced. Approximately one hour. Available on the Quantum Academy learning platform. Enroll with just an email address and start immediately.
What You Will Not Find Here
This is an introduction, not a certification course. It will not prepare you for a Quantum Academy exam or make you ready to lead a migration. For that, our Post-Quantum Foundation course and the PQCS certification track go far deeper. But this free hour will give you a solid mental model and help you decide where to invest next.
After This Course
If you want to go further:
- Post-Quantum Foundation: the half-day course that begins the certification track
- Quantum Security for Executives: if you make decisions rather than implement them
- Browse all courses and certifications, the full catalog across every quantum technology domain
Who this course is for
Anyone who has been asked what the quantum threat means for their organization and would rather not answer from headlines. Security staff, IT managers, risk and compliance people, and the executives briefing them. No technical background is assumed and none is needed.
If you already work on migration planning, this hour will be too shallow. Start at Post-Quantum Foundation instead.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Explain the quantum threat to current cryptography in plain language
- Distinguish harvest-now-decrypt-later exposure from signature exposure
- Describe what the NIST post-quantum standards do and do not settle
- Judge whether a vendor or press claim about quantum timelines is credible
What you leave with
You leave with the course handbook, a PDF of the full material with the instructor notes written out in place of the slides’ bullet points. Keep it and share it.
Enrollment includes 180 days of access to the online on-demand course. Where that course is not yet published, the 180 days start on the day it is.
Where this course fits
Nothing at all. This is the starting point. Post-Quantum Foundation is the paid course this leads into, and it is where the certification track begins. If your interest is the technology rather than the security problem, Introduction to Quantum Computing is the other free hour.
Why we teach this
The course is built on the Applied Quantum PQC Migration Framework, published openly under Creative Commons at pqcframework.org and written by the practitioners who teach here. The people who teach this course are running migration programs inside organizations now, and the course covers what those programs hit.
Certificate of Attendance
Upon completion, you will receive a Quantum Academy certificate of attendance. This is not a professional certification.
About this program
Quantum Academy credentials are private professional credentials issued by Quantum Academy, a trade name of Post-Quantum Institute. They are not government-issued licenses, accredited degrees, or academic credit, and earning one does not guarantee employment, promotion, regulatory approval, or any other specific outcome.
Quantum Academy programs are educational and informational only, and are not legal, compliance, or engineering advice.