You don’t need quantum hardware for post-quantum security

Cloudflare argues that organizations do not need quantum hardware to prepare for quantum computing threats, because post-quantum cryptography (PQC) runs on existing phones, laptops and servers and protects against quantum adversaries. The article says quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum random number generation (QRNG) are neither necessary nor sufficient for security in the quantum age. It states that QKD does not operate at Internet scale because it requires direct physical links between parties and lacks authentication, while NIST launched a standardization competition in 2016 that produced several PQC standards published in 2024.