Within the ever-evolving panorama of cybersecurity, HNDL (Harvest Now, Decrypt Later) is rising as a silent however severe risk. It doesn’t require an attacker to interrupt encryption at present—it simply bets that they are going to be ready to take action tomorrow.
What’s HNDL?
HNDL is a long-term knowledge breach technique during which adversaries intercept and retailer encrypted knowledge at present, with the intention of decrypting it sooner or later when computing energy—significantly quantum computing—makes breaking present cryptography possible. The worth of the information doesn’t have to be speedy. Delicate medical data, confidential enterprise contracts, protection communications, or citizen knowledge can all retain strategic worth years down the street.
Why Ought to You Be Involved?
- Quantum computing shouldn’t be science fiction anymore. Progress is accelerating, and whereas sensible quantum decryption should be years away, risk actors (together with state-sponsored teams) are already getting ready by harvesting knowledge now.
- Most encryption used at present (like RSA and ECC) will finally be weak to quantum assaults until up to date with post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
- You might by no means comprehend it’s taking place. In contrast to ransomware or denial-of-service assaults, HNDL leaves no speedy hint.
What Ought to Organizations Do?
You don’t want a crystal ball to defend in opposition to future dangers—you want a roadmap. Right here’s easy methods to act now:
1. Stock and Classify Your Cryptographic Property
- Begin with a crypto-agility evaluation: Determine all cases of cryptographic use throughout your infrastructure, together with TLS, VPNs, inside apps, backups, and cloud integrations.
- Categorize the knowledge sensitivity and longevity of confidentiality required. Something that should keep confidential for greater than 3-5 years is doubtlessly in danger from HNDL.
2. Prioritize Lengthy-Lived, Excessive-Sensitivity Site visitors
- VPN tunnels, database backups, and software program distribution methods are prime targets for HNDL.
- Site visitors between core methods and long-term logs are particularly weak.
3. Undertake Publish-Quantum Cryptography The place It Issues Most
- Start testing or deploying hybrid cryptographic protocols (e.g., classical + PQC) that meet each present and future safety wants.
- Search for standards-compliant options like these aligned with NIST’s FIPS 203/204/205 (for ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA).
4. Demand PQC Roadmaps from Your Distributors
- Ask your safety distributors and infrastructure suppliers what they’re doing to assist PQC and mitigate HNDL.
- Search interoperability assessments and pilot deployments—don’t watch for full productization.
5. Defend the Channel, Not Simply the Endpoint
- Even when your endpoints are safe, visitors in transit is weak to interception.
- Safe communication channels (IPsec, TLS, MACsec) ought to evolve to assist PQC as a high precedence.
Remaining Thought
HNDL isn’t only a future drawback—it’s a gift danger disguised by time. Organizations that wait till quantum computer systems are totally operational will have already got misplaced the battle for his or her previous knowledge. The time to behave is now.
If you’re headed for the #RSAC, you may be taught extra from the Cisco session on Architecting the Way forward for Safety by Cisco Thought Chief Tim Rowley on Tuesday, April twenty ninth 2025 at 10:30 am on the Cisco Safety Sales space #N5845. We’d love to attach and change concepts as we put together for the brand new frontiers in safety.
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