A plea to improve quantum security in the federal government

About this episode

Gharun Lacy discusses the urgent need for improved quantum security measures in the federal government to combat emerging cyber threats.

In this episode, we sit down with Gharun Lacy, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Cyber and Technology Security Directorate at the U.S. Department of State, who issues a stark warning: no organization can defend against quantum-enabled cyber threats alone. Hear Lacy explain why adversaries like China are already harvesting encrypted data today—planning to crack it years from now when quantum computers arrive. He breaks down the "harvest now, decrypt later" threat and why your encrypted data may outlive multiple leadership cycles, creating risks that stretch across generations like an accordion through time. Lacy challenges both public and private sector defenders to stop thinking about their post-quantum encryption plans in isolation. Instead, he argues we must defend "holistically as an ecosystem," with industries and sectors coordinating their transition to quantum-resistant algorithms by 2035. But is that timeline fast enough? In our reporter chat, Greg talks with Derek Johnson about a new study that finds that LLMs can used to deanonymize online profiles.

People in this episode

Host: Greg

Guest: Gharun Lacy

Topics covered

• quantum security
• cyber threats
• encryption
• public sector
• private sector
• post-quantum encryption
• LLMs

Keywords

• quantum security
• cyber threats
• encryption
• post-quantum
• data harvesting
• ecosystem defense
• LLMs
• deanonymization

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S. Department of State

Places: China

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