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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchPost-quantum migration starts with finding where public-key cryptography protects your systems and data—not with swapping an algorithm in one application. Build an inventory of cryptography, certificates, dependencies, and protected data; use it to prioritize a phased transition; then test the replacements and make future changes operationally manageable.
Why post-quantum migration is an organizational program
Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is cryptography designed to remain secure against attacks made possible by quantum computers. Migrating means finding where quantum-vulnerable public-key cryptography is used and planning how to replace it across systems, applications, protocols, services, and devices. NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) describes discovery and prioritized roadmaps as central parts of this work.
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That scope makes migration more than an algorithm change. A replacement can affect certificate issuance and validation, protocol interoperability, software and hardware support, supplier dependencies, performance, and operational procedures. NIST mathematician and PQC project lead Dustin Moody urged organizations to start: “We encourage organizations to begin their transition to these standards immediately to ensure their data remains secure in the quantum era,”
What to include in a cryptographic inventory
NIST defines a cryptographic inventory as a descriptive record of cryptography used across systems, applications, services, devices, and data flows. It should let teams answer not only “Which algorithm is here?” but also “What relies on it, who can change it, and what data does it protect?”
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| Inventory area | Useful details to record |
|---|---|
| Cryptographic use | Algorithm, protocol, service, and the system or application using them. |
| Key metadata | Key type, owner, associated algorithm, application, expiration, and lifecycle status. Record metadata, never secret key material. |
| Certificates and trust | Certificates, certificate chains, and the systems or processes that issue, validate, or depend on them. |
| Dependencies | Applications, systems, devices, libraries, services, and other components that depend on the cryptographic use. |
| Protected data | Data type, sensitivity, and how long it needs protection—especially sensitive information with a long protection lifetime. |
Long-lived sensitive data deserves particular attention: information collected now could remain valuable even if its protection is later compromised. Record enough context to assess that exposure and plan an appropriate transition; do not treat every cryptographic use as equally urgent.
How to find cryptography that scans may miss
Start with visible network services, but do not mistake an edge scan for an enterprise inventory. Cryptography also appears in internal systems, code, endpoints, certificate-based authentication, signing, and data flows. Correlate observations from scanners with records from application and repository owners, endpoint and infrastructure teams, PKI and key-management services, and suppliers.
Use scanning tools as discovery inputs
NIST NCCoE’s FAQ, last updated June 30, 2026, lists these starting points:
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- pqcscan: scans SSH and TLS servers.
- sslscan2: tests SSL/TLS services and supported cipher suites.
- crt.sh: helps find certificates issued for a domain or organization.
NIST presents these as examples, not an exhaustive tool list or proof of complete coverage. A scan reports what it can observe in its target and environment; it cannot by itself establish which code paths, internal certificate authorities, embedded components, or vendor-managed services remain unaccounted for.
Reconcile findings across the organization
- Check application inventories, source repositories, libraries, and build or deployment processes for cryptographic dependencies.
- Ask system, endpoint, network, and service owners to identify cryptographic functions that network scans cannot see.
- Compare observed certificates with PKI records and certificate-lifecycle processes, including internal as well as public-facing uses.
- Trace where certificates and trust chains are used for authentication, signing, or other system dependencies.
- Assign each record an owner and a status so unknowns, exceptions, and remediation work can be tracked.
Close certificate and PKI inventory gaps
Public TLS certificates are only one part of certificate exposure. A useful review also checks internal certificate authorities, machine identities, trust chains, signing certificates, embedded trust stores, certificate-based authentication, and systems that rely on certificates. This checklist applies NIST’s inventory scope to common discovery tasks; it is not a claim that every organization uses every item.
Map how certificates are issued, distributed, trusted, renewed, and validated, and connect each path to the systems and owners that depend on it. This helps reveal change dependencies that a list of certificate names alone cannot show. Include PKI work in migration planning rather than assuming that a new cryptographic algorithm can be deployed without changes to certificate formats, trust relationships, or dependent systems.
A July 2025 IETF Internet-Draft, “Guidance for migration to Post-Quantum Cryptography,” discussed adapting PKI for PQC keys and certificates. That draft expired January 21, 2026. It is historical design context, not an adopted standard; verify current protocol standards and vendor support before relying on a specific interoperability approach.
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NIST calls for understanding where vulnerable public-key cryptography is used and developing prioritized roadmaps. The following are practical planning axes, not a NIST-mandated scoring formula:
- Data sensitivity and protection lifetime: prioritize data that is sensitive and must remain confidential for a long time.
- Exposure: consider whether a service or dependency is externally reachable and what information or function it protects.
- Business criticality: assess the consequences of failure or an unavailable service during a change.
- Dependency complexity: identify how many applications, certificates, vendors, or operational processes must change together.
- Update feasibility: establish whether the software, hardware, firmware, or service can be upgraded and on what schedule.
Use these factors to group work into actionable migration waves, identify assets that need investigation before scheduling, and document accepted exceptions with a named owner and review date. The inventory should remain a working record: update it as systems change and as testing reveals dependencies that initial discovery missed.
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Plan implementation, interoperability, and transition controls
NIST NCCoE’s PQC migration work includes cryptographic visibility and risk management, as well as interoperability and benchmarking. Reflect those concerns in each migration wave rather than treating a standards choice as proof that an implementation is ready.
- Confirm the affected use: identify the asset, cryptographic function, certificate or protocol path, data protected, owner, and dependencies from the inventory.
- Check implementation readiness: verify support in the actual products, platforms, protocols, and supplier services involved. Do not assume that all dependencies support a standard merely because NIST has finalized it.
- Test interoperability: test the intended combinations of clients, servers, certificates, and dependent systems in a representative environment before broad deployment.
- Measure operational impact: assess performance and operational effects in the environment where the change will run, and document the results and acceptance criteria.
- Schedule and control rollout: coordinate supplier commitments and upgrade windows; define monitoring, rollback conditions, and the owner responsible for each change.
- Track exceptions and completion: record unresolved dependencies and decisions with owners and review dates, then update inventory status as the migration proceeds.
These controls make it possible to distinguish a planned replacement from a verified one and to respond when a dependency, supplier timeline, or interoperability test changes the schedule.
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NIST released its first three finalized PQC standards in August 2024: ML-KEM for key establishment, and ML-DSA and SLH-DSA for digital signatures. They provide standardized options for migration planning, but an organization still needs to verify implementation support and applicable transition guidance for its particular products and use cases.
NIST IR 8547, “Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards,” is an Initial Public Draft published November 12, 2024. It describes NIST’s expected transition approach and identifies vulnerable standards and candidate replacements. Because it is a draft, do not present it as finalized, binding guidance or infer a universal deadline from it. Check the current requirements that apply to the organization’s jurisdiction, sector, and systems.
Build crypto-agility into each environment
NIST’s CSWP 39 update 1 describes crypto-agility as the capability to replace and adapt algorithms across protocols, applications, software, hardware, firmware, and infrastructure while preserving security and ongoing operations. The update was published December 19, 2025, with updates through June 29, 2026. Agility is not one universal mechanism: choices have to fit the constraints and operating model of each environment.
In practice, make cryptographic choices, inventory records, testing, deployment, and rollback manageable rather than scattering a single fixed algorithm choice through systems where it is difficult to change. Keep configuration controlled and reviewable, identify the owner who can authorize a change, and include interoperability and update constraints in design decisions. A method that works for a centrally managed service may not suit embedded devices or hardware with limited update paths.
Judge an agility approach by whether it supports the environment’s real needs: visibility into use and dependencies, safe testing, interoperability, manageable operational impact, supplier support, and a reliable way to update or roll back. NIST CSWP 39 discusses mechanisms, challenges, and trade-offs; implementation teams must select practices suited to their own systems.
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