Within the ever-evolving panorama of cybersecurity, HNDL (Harvest Now, Decrypt Later) is rising as a silent however severe menace. It doesn’t require an attacker to interrupt encryption in the present day—it simply bets that they are going to be in a position to take action tomorrow.
What’s HNDL?
HNDL is a long-term knowledge breach technique during which adversaries intercept and retailer encrypted knowledge in the present day, with the intention of decrypting it sooner or later when computing energy—significantly quantum computing—makes breaking present cryptography possible. The worth of the information doesn’t have to be fast. Delicate medical information, confidential enterprise contracts, protection communications, or citizen knowledge can all retain strategic worth years down the highway.
Why Ought to You Be Involved?
- Quantum computing just isn’t science fiction anymore. Progress is accelerating, and whereas sensible quantum decryption should be years away, menace actors (together with state-sponsored teams) are already making ready by harvesting knowledge now.
- Most encryption used in the present day (like RSA and ECC) will finally be weak to quantum assaults until up to date with post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
- It’s possible you’ll by no means realize it’s occurring. Not like ransomware or denial-of-service assaults, HNDL leaves no fast hint.
What Ought to Organizations Do?
You don’t want a crystal ball to defend in opposition to future dangers—you want a roadmap. Right here’s the right way to act now:
1. Stock and Classify Your Cryptographic Belongings
- Begin with a crypto-agility evaluation: Determine all cases of cryptographic use throughout your infrastructure, together with TLS, VPNs, inner apps, backups, and cloud integrations.
- Categorize the knowledge sensitivity and longevity of confidentiality required. Something that should keep confidential for greater than 3-5 years is probably in danger from HNDL.
2. Prioritize Lengthy-Lived, Excessive-Sensitivity Visitors
- VPN tunnels, database backups, and software program distribution programs are prime targets for HNDL.
- Visitors between core programs and long-term logs are particularly weak.
3. Undertake Publish-Quantum Cryptography The place It Issues Most
- Start testing or deploying hybrid cryptographic protocols (e.g., classical + PQC) that meet each present and future safety wants.
- Search for standards-compliant options like these aligned with NIST’s FIPS 203/204/205 (for ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA).
4. Demand PQC Roadmaps from Your Distributors
- Ask your safety distributors and infrastructure suppliers what they’re doing to help PQC and mitigate HNDL.
- Search interoperability exams and pilot deployments—don’t anticipate full productization.
5. Defend the Channel, Not Simply the Endpoint
- Even when your endpoints are safe, visitors in transit is weak to interception.
- Safe communication channels (IPsec, TLS, MACsec) ought to evolve to help PQC as a prime precedence.
Closing Thought
HNDL isn’t only a future drawback—it’s a gift threat disguised by time. Organizations that wait till quantum computer systems are absolutely operational will have already got misplaced the battle for his or her previous knowledge. The time to behave is now.
If you’re headed for the #RSAC, you possibly can study extra from the Cisco session on Architecting the Way forward for Safety by Cisco Thought Chief Tim Rowley on Tuesday, April twenty ninth 2025 at 10:30 am on the Cisco Safety Sales space #N5845. We’d love to attach and change concepts as we put together for the brand new frontiers in safety.
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