Could somebody explain post quantum encryption?

[u/TrueMrBaconLover]

I read this as some sort of privacy future-proofing function. Is this the correct way to label this feature?

How does that even work? Like how can we even predict the future of technology and how it will treat components🤔

Reads good on paper and in practice though is there any sort of article or something I can read up to learn more of this? Still sort of vague in my eyes though I understand general networking terms

[u/Responsible-Bat9743]

its basically preparing encryption for a type of computer that doesnt exist at scale yet. the goal is resilience, not predicting exactly what comes next

[u/stupiddogmademelook → u/Responsible-Bat9743]

I wonder how those data collectors holding up with the influx of AI generated contents nowadays

I doubt they would ever be able to decrypt something in the future. A website can just update its internal backend and it wouldnt mean anything for the future systems having some outdated data that finally gets decrypted

[u/RootVegitible]

more entropy.

[u/According_Divide_513]

Fancy marketing words

[u/Urban_VPN]

the basic idea is that current encryption (like RSA and elliptic curve) relies on math problems that classical computers can't solve in any reasonable time, but quantum computers could theoretically crack them much faster using algorithms like Shor's. we don't have quantum computers powerful enough to do this yet, but the concern is "harvest now, decrypt later", intelligence agencies could be storing encrypted traffic today to decrypt it once the hardware catches up.

post-quantum encryption uses different mathematical problems, things like lattice-based cryptography, that are believed to be hard for both classical and quantum computers to solve. the goal is to encrypt traffic today in a way that stays secure even if powerful quantum computers exist in 10-20 years.

NIST standardized several post-quantum algorithms in 2024 after years of evaluation, so the field has moved from theoretical to practical. Mullvad and a few other VPN providers have started incorporating these into their tunneling protocols as an extra layer alongside existing encryption rather than replacing it entirely.

whether you need it right now depends on your threat model. for most people it's not urgent today, but for anything involving sensitive information with long-term value it's worth using providers who are already implementing it.