Quantum Computing’s Cybersecurity Threat: Why Businesses Are Preparing for Q-Day

Quantum computing will be a massive game-changer for all of us.

In fact, according to McKinsey, it could take computing and the ability to solve complex problems quickly to a “whole new level.” They also believe it could create a $1.3 trillion opportunity by the time 2035 rolls around.

Quantum computing is a huge leap forward because “complex problems that currently take the most powerful supercomputer several years could potentially be solved in seconds,” said Charlie Campbell for Time. This could open “hitherto unfathomable frontiers in mathematics and science, helping to solve existential challenges like climate change and food security.”

It could also help speed up new drug treatment discoveries. It may even help speed up financing and data speed, assist with climate change issues, cybersecurity and other mind-boggling complex issues faster than a regular computer.

It all sounds great, right?

There’s just one problem.

Quantum computers will become so powerful, they will be able to break standard existing encryption in a matter of seconds, exposing information that governments, companies, and billions of us don’t want exposed.

Experts refer to it as Q-Day, the day quantum computers crack the code on some of our most important information, including:

• Banking systems protecting trillions in transactions
• Email communications for 730 million business accounts worldwide
• Cryptocurrency wallets and networks worth $3.4 trillion in market cap
• AI systems handling sensitive data and proprietary models
• National defense and government communications

Quantum computers aren’t just faster versions of existing technology.

They’re a whole new beast, which can explore countless possibilities at once, coming to a solution within seconds. That’s why tech companies, like 01 Quantum (TSXV: ONE) (OTCQB: OONEF), and governments are spending billions of dollars to protect themselves from the potential problem.

The concern is serious enough, however, that the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has already finalized its first post-quantum cryptography standards. These are methods designed to resist attacks from future quantum computers.

Businesses also have to consider what security experts call “harvest now, decrypt later.”

In plain English, attackers can collect encrypted information now and try to unlock it when the technology becomes available. Medical records, government communications, and valuable research could still be sensitive by then.

That gives organizations a reason to start upgrading before the threat fully develops.

The global community is racing to prevent issues.

Governments outside the U.S. are also pushing to get ahead of the quantum threat.

The European Commission is urging EU countries to begin moving toward post-quantum cryptography, or PQC. This type of encryption is designed to withstand attacks from future quantum computers.

France is setting its own timetable. According to the World Economic Forum, the country’s cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, plans to stop certifying security products without quantum-resistant encryption by 2027. The goal is for government and critical-infrastructure purchases to be quantum-safe by 2030. Japan also plans to bring PQC into its national standards.

More than 100 Firms Issued Warnings.

In a joint letter issued in late August, a group of 100 firms, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon, warned that increasingly capable AI could fuel a much broader wave of cyberattacks in the months ahead.

Their message was straightforward: governments and businesses need to move quickly, pooling their technology, expertise, and resources to strengthen defenses.

Companies like 01 Quantum are working with Carleton University, the National Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection, Security and Resilience and the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX) to investigate practical solutions to the problem: how to keep sensitive information secure when AI systems share it.

The research will simulate a financial institution where multiple AI agents work together on tasks such as spotting fraud and assessing customer risk. The collaboration will also evaluate how 01 Quantum’s post-quantum cryptography and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) could help protect that information. Fully homomorphic encryption allows computations to be performed on data while it remains encrypted. 01 Quantum also announced a Post-Quantum Cryptography Technology Alliance with IT security provider Utimaco. The alliance brings together the companies’ technology and expertise to help governments and businesses plan and carry out the move to quantum-resistant security.

When Q-Day Arrives…

When Q-Day does arrive, everything becomes vulnerable, including banking systems, email, crypto networks and national defense.

Just as the launch of ChatGPT prompted heightened concern about AI-driven disruption, and the launch of Anthropic’s recent models have heightened cybersecurity fears, the anticipation of Q-Day is triggering a rapid shift toward quantum protection.

And that shift is already showing up in the numbers. The global post-quantum cryptography (PQC) market is projected to grow nearly sevenfold, from $0.42 billion in 2025 to $2.84 billion by 2030, a 46.2% compound annual growth rate.

One of the Companies Helping is 01 Quantum.

01 Quantum has already developed advanced post‑quantum cryptographic (PQC) technology to protect digital systems against the growing threat of quantum computers.

Its patented IronCAP and patent-pending technologies are designed to provide long‑term resilience against quantum‑enabled attacks. By integrating these technologies into applications such as AI platforms, remote access systems, email and digital‑asset platforms, the Company is delivering practical, quantum‑safe solutions that can be deployed today.

In addition, in January, Hitachi Solutions Create launched DoMobile Ver.5 in Japan using 01 Quantum’s post-quantum technology. The remote-access platform allows people to connect to their work computers from elsewhere, with additional protection against future quantum attacks.

Also, 01 Quantum’s September alliance with cybersecurity provider Utimaco adds another relationship focused on helping organizations move toward post-quantum security. The two announced the formation of a Post‑Quantum Cryptography Technology Alliance, bringing together the complementary technologies and expertise of both companies to help governments and companies prepare for and execute the transition toward quantum-resilient cryptographic infrastructures.

The alliance is designed to address quantum challenges through a coordinated and standards-aligned approach to PQC adoption. 01 Quantum brings its PQC software technologies, cryptographic discovery capabilities, and expertise in transitioning applications toward quantum-resistant cryptography. Utimaco contributes its expertise and technologies in hardware security modules (HSMs), secure key management, cryptographic infrastructure, crypto-agility, and quantum-safe security.

Email and Digital Assets Offer Other Opportunities

Email is another easy place to understand the need for long-term protection. Businesses use it to share contracts, financial information, legal documents, and private discussions. The consequences of exposing those messages may last well beyond the day they were sent.

01 Quantum’s existing IronCAP X email product is designed to add quantum-resistant encryption and digital signatures, including through integration with Outlook. Encryption helps protect the contents; digital signatures help verify the sender. The appeal is convenience. A security upgrade is easier to adopt when employees can continue using familiar software.

Digital assets present another challenge. 

Here, the concern includes protecting the digital signatures used to authorize transactions. If those protections become vulnerable, asset owners need a dependable way to keep control of their holdings.

In June 2026, 01 Quantum and qLABS announced the commercial launch of qVAULT, a self-custody smart-contract vault designed to add quantum-resistant protection to digital assets. It uses 01 Quantum’s Quantum Crypto Wrapper and Quantum DeFi Wrapper technologies. The company’s approach aims to add protection to supported blockchain applications without requiring users to move everything to a newly built blockchain.

The company also said it plans a “Mythos Challenge” 30-day test in which about CAD 100,000 worth of $qONE tokens will be placed in the vault with intentionally published private keys. Hackers will have 30 days to breach the protection, simulating a Q-Day scenario.

Making AI Useful Without Exposing Private Information

Artificial intelligence may offer another opening.

Consider a bank that wants AI to help identify suspicious transactions. The bank needs useful answers, but it also needs to protect customer information. Meanwhile, the company providing the AI model wants to protect the technology it developed.

01 Quantum is working on that problem through its Quantum AI Wrapper, or QAW. The technology uses fully homomorphic encryption. According to the company, QAW is designed to protect both a user’s data and the AI model while the model processes a request. Its planned rollout initially focuses on smaller AI models built for specific tasks.

In addition, 01 Quantum has now secured a U.S. patent for technology built to close exactly that gap: a system that lets AI process data while the data stays encrypted from start to finish. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 12,744,764 B1, titled “Secure AI Operations,” covering the core of the Company’s secure AI solutions.

The patent covers more than one side of the transaction. Conventional thinking about AI security focuses on protecting the user’s data, but AI models are themselves valuable, proprietary assets — the product of enormous investment, and intellectual property in their own right. 01 Quantum’s technology is designed to protect both: sensitive user data and the proprietary model, together, throughout the inference process.

That dual protection unlocks a genuinely new architecture. The patent also covers a secure AI model marketplace, where model users and model vendors can interact while cryptographic protection is maintained over both the users’ sensitive data and the vendors’ proprietary model IP. In other words, a vendor can offer a model without exposing how it works, and a user can run their data through it without exposing what the data contains. Both parties transact without either surrendering their crown jewels — a foundation for AI collaboration in environments where that has never been safely possible.

01 Quantum: A Leader in the Race Against Q-Day

The timeline for quantum computing has accelerated dramatically. Google’s Willow chip, Microsoft’s Majorana 1 and 2, and IBM’s public roadmap for fault-tolerant quantum computers by 2029 have made one thing clear: Q-Day, the moment quantum computers will be able to crack today’s encryption, is approaching.

When it does, the encryption protecting banking systems, email communications, cryptocurrency networks, AI platforms, and government infrastructure all becomes vulnerable.