The Quantum Threat for Executive Decision-Makers
The quantum threat to cryptography is real. Much of what executives hear about it is either vendor-driven fear or dismissive complacency. Executives who make budget and strategy decisions need to know what the threat actually is, which regulatory deadlines are already set, and what migration costs. They also need to tell a credible migration plan from a sales pitch.
This course covers those questions in four hours. No technical background is required. Take it before your organization commits to a PQC migration budget, selects vendors, or approves a migration program.
Course Outline
Module 1 The Quantum Threat: Executive Assessment
What quantum computers will break and what they will not. The difference between headline quantum computing milestones and a cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC), the machine that could break today’s public-key cryptography. Timeline assessment: what credible experts actually say versus what vendors and media claim. The HNDL threat: adversaries are harvesting encrypted data today to decrypt it once a CRQC exists. Why data that must stay confidential for years is already at risk. The TNFL threat: how retroactive signature forgery could undermine software supply chains, legal documents, and financial records.
Module 2 Deadlines, Regulations, and Market Pressure
CNSA 2.0: the US federal timeline, which already applies to procurement, including the January 2027 acquisition gate. EU quantum-readiness directives. Sector-specific requirements: financial services (G7 CEG, PCI DSS roadmap, DORA crypto-agility), telecommunications (GSMA), defense (NSM-10). How insurers are adding PQC readiness to cyber insurance questionnaires. How clients and partners are adding PQC expectations to contracts. Regulatory deadlines apply now, regardless of when a CRQC is built.
Module 3 Cost, Budget, and ROI Framing
What PQC migration costs in each phase: discovery, planning, implementation, and ongoing operation. Cost drivers: estate size, cryptographic diversity, vendor dependency, and organizational complexity. How to frame migration in budget conversations. Risk reduction, quantified with HNDL exposure windows. Regulatory compliance, to avoid penalties and market access restrictions. Competitive positioning, by demonstrating readiness to clients and partners. The effect on insurance premiums. Common budget mistakes and how to avoid them.
Module 4 Evaluating Migration Plans and Vendors
How to tell a credible PQC migration program from a vendor-driven initiative. Does the plan start with discovery, or does it jump to product procurement? Is the migration methodology vendor-independent? Does it account for the vendor dependency problem (your timeline depends on vendors who may not be ready)? Does it include verification and testing, or does it end at deployment? How to evaluate vendor claims about PQC readiness. The board-briefing toolkit: a structured approach to presenting quantum risk and migration status to your board.
Prerequisites
None. No technical background required.
Certificate of Completion
Upon completion, you receive a Quantum Academy certificate of completion. It is separate from our professional certifications and states your CPE credits, one for each 60 minutes of teaching. CISSP, CISM and CRISC holders can claim them with their certifying body. The credits also count toward renewing a Quantum Academy certification. Our CPE credits page explains how to claim them.
Who this course is for
CISOs, CIOs, CTOs, VPs of engineering, and senior IT leaders. Also appropriate for risk officers and compliance leaders who need the security context before engaging with PQC governance.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Assess the quantum threat to your organization’s cryptographic infrastructure using evidence-based frameworks
- Distinguish between genuine quantum risk and Q-FUD (quantum fear, uncertainty, and doubt)
- Identify which regulatory deadlines and compliance drivers apply to your sector
- Evaluate what a PQC migration program requires in terms of scope, timeline, budget, and team composition
- Apply Mosca’s inequality to determine when your organization’s migration timeline becomes critical
- Ask informed questions about organizational PQC readiness and vendor quantum-safe plans
What you leave with
When you finish, we email you the course handbook, a PDF of every slide with notes that explain it in full. We also include a PDF copy of Quantum Ready. The handbook is yours to keep.
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 is required, and no technical background is assumed. Quantum Risk for CISOs goes deeper for security leaders. The overview course for your industry applies the same material to your sector.
Why we teach this
The material is based on Quantum Ready, the book on organizational readiness written by the course author. It also draws on faculty who have been the decision-makers in these discussions. We teach executives the questions that too often go unasked.
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.
