Experience has taught us that such migrations are difficult, slow and expensive processes. Organisations must therefore build crypto agility into their systems: the flexibility to deal with this reality quickly and easily.

During our free webinar on Thursday 12th of June 2025, Kristof Verslype took a closer look at crypto agility: why is it necessary, what does it mean in practice and where do we stand today? Kristof is a researcher and cryptographer at Smals Research.

The session was held in English. The webinar is free but reserved for public sector employees and Smals staff.

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A more generic approach is needed to make your organization more flexible such that cryptographic migrations cease to be slow and cumbersome. Cryptographic agility is the recommended as principle to increases your cryptographic maturity. But what does this mean in practice?

This technical talks discusses concrete examples from the Belgian public sector, going from securing communications, to signing documents and even more advanced cryptographic mechanisms. The talk displays cryptographic agility in practice and draws lessons from them. Furthermore, the role and shape of the cryptographic inventory is touched.

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Public key cryptography is essential in our society. We use it constantly, for instance to secure digital communication. Powerful quantum computers could break this in the long term and are already a risk today. Someone who intercepts secure communication today may indeed be able to decipher it in the future with a powerful quantum computer.

We need to replace our cryptography. History has taught us that such a migration path is cumbersome and can take many years. Multiple new migrations may be ahead of us, not only due to the threat of cryptographically relevant quantum computers.

Cryptographic agility promises to drastically smoothen such migrations. But what does it mean in practice? This talks dives into the topic, inspired by concrete cases from the public sector.

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This webinar explores the emerging threat of quantum computing to encryption and its potential impact on data security. It introduces the new Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) standards and the concept of cryptographic agility, providing strategies for organizations to adapt to evolving security challenges. A real-world use case from Proximus showcases how a leading company is preparing its communications infrastructure for the quantum era, offering practical insights into future-proofing data and ensuring secure communications.

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https://www.vub.be/en/studying-vub/all-study-programmes-vub/bachelors-and-masters-programmes-vub/postgraduate-digital-it-essentials

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— FR — Pour ceux qui souhaitent un aperçu du monde merveilleux de l’informatique quantique, il y a l’IBM Quantum Experience. Ce service permet de manipuler visuellement quelques qubits, c’est-à-dire d’écrire et d’exécuter de petits algorithmes pour les ordinateurs quantiques sur un ordinateur quantique IBM.

Cryptografie – het beveiligen van gegevens m.b.v. wiskundige principes – is cruciaal in onze hedendaagse samenleving. In deze webinar wordt door Kristof Verslype, cryptograaf bij Smals Research,  dieper ingegaan op de problematiek en mythe van de kwantumcomputers en welke de gevolgen zijn voor de moderne cryptografie. Volgende aspecten komen aan bod:

– De basisprincipes van kwantumcomputers – De complexiteit om ze te bouwen – De bedreiging die ze vormen voor de moderne cryptografie – De voorbereidingen de we kunnen/moeten treffen

La cryptographie – la sécurisation des données fondée sur des principes mathématiques – est fondamentale dans notre société. Lors de ce webinaire, Kristof Verslype, cryptographe au sein de l’équipe Smals Research, explique la problématique et le mythe des ordinateurs quantiques, ainsi que les conséquences pour la cryptographie moderne. Divers aspects y sont abordés :

– Les principes de base des ordinateurs quantiques – La complexité de leur construction – La menace qu’ils représentent pour la cryptographie moderne – Les mesures préparatoires que nous pouvons/devons prendre.

Presentation

Cryptografie – het beveiligen van gegevens m.b.v. wiskundige principes – is cruciaal in onze hedendaagse samenleving. In deze webinar wordt door Kristof Verslype, cryptograaf bij Smals Research,  dieper ingegaan op de problematiek en mythe van de kwantumcomputers en welke de gevolgen zijn voor de moderne cryptografie. Volgende aspecten komen aan bod:

– De basisprincipes van kwantumcomputers – De complexiteit om ze te bouwen – De bedreiging die ze vormen voor de moderne cryptografie – De voorbereidingen de we kunnen/moeten treffen

• Slides
• Recording
• Research report

– Les principes de base des ordinateurs quantiques – La complexité de leur construction – La menace qu’ils représentent pour la cryptographie moderne – Les mesures préparatoires que nous pouvons/devons prendre.