The quantum-secure communication to space and back to Earth was made through a Starlink satellite working with a leading global system integrator (GSI) and security provider.
This is significant because data shared between satellites and ground stations travels through the air and traditionally has been vulnerable to theft, leaving satellite communications even more accessible than typical internet communications, the vendor said.
IETF launches working group to coordinate quantum-resistant cryptographic protocols
In January 2023, the IETF launched the Post-Quantum Use In Protocols (PQUIP) working group to coordinate the use of cryptographic protocols that are not susceptible to large quantum computers.
“The idea of the working group is to be a standing venue to discuss PQC from an operational and engineering side,” said Sofia Celi, co-chair of PQUI. “It is also a venue of last resort to discuss PQC-related issues in IETF protocols that have no associated maintenance on other working groups that the IETF has.”
The IETF said the working group has been set up on an experimental basis, and in two years, it intends to review it for rechartering to continue or else closure. In August 2023, the group published the Post-Quantum Cryptography for Engineers paper to provide an overview of the current threat landscape and the relevant algorithms designed to help prevent those threats.
In September 2025, the IETF published guidance for implementing post-quantum key exchanges and digital signatures in TLS 1.3 and related standards.
Migration roadmaps
Agencies such as the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, NIST in the US, and the European Commission have outlined phased roadmaps for enterprises to complete migration to post-quantum cryptography by 2035.
Experts urge enterprises to prepare for PQC by taking an inventory of cryptographic assets, mapping algorithmic dependencies, and aligning migration plans to NIST’s post-quantum standards, among other measures.
“The ongoing ‘Migration to PQC’ project from NIST’s NCCoE has also brought much-needed structure to the process, especially with September’s white paper that mapped PQC discovery and migration capabilities to frameworks like the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and NIST SP 800-53,” says Rik Ferguson, VP of security intelligence at Forescout. “That’s helping organizations understand where they stand and what practical steps to take.”
Industry adoption of post-quantum encryption technologies is building but remains uneven.
“Around 8.5% of all SSH servers now support PQC key exchange, rising to 26% for OpenSSH specifically, but other technologies, such as TLS 1.3, are lagging behind,” according to Ferguson. “And when we look at unmanaged environments like IoT, OT, and medical devices, the numbers drop off sharply, often below 10%.”
