Microsoft is actively integrating post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms into its security infrastructure, aiming to make core services quantum-safe by 2029, including major platforms like Microsoft 365 and Azure.

This phased transition involves updating cryptographic libraries such as SymCrypt, integrating PQC into foundational services like authentication and key management, and deploying these changes across all Microsoft services and endpoints.

Microsoft's strategy aligns with U.S. government standards and international efforts, emphasizing early planning, coordination with standards bodies like NIST, and supporting industry-wide adoption of quantum-safe protocols.

The company urges organizations to begin immediate planning and risk assessments to mitigate future vulnerabilities, highlighting that the transition to quantum-safe systems is complex and multi-year.

Transitioning to PQC requires global collaboration among industry, governments, and standards organizations, involving resource-intensive upgrades and the development of crypto-agile systems.

Microsoft is enhancing its transport layer security (TLS) protocols with quantum-safe key exchange mechanisms, including support for hybrid and pure post-quantum key exchanges in TLS 1.3, to counter threats like Harvest Now, Decrypt Later.

SymCrypt, a critical cryptographic library used across Windows, Azure, and Linux, now supports quantum-resistant algorithms, ensuring secure data transmission and encryption.

The company's Quantum Safe Program aligns with international timelines, focusing on integrating quantum-safe algorithms into core libraries and infrastructure, while contributing to global standards and open-source projects.

Microsoft's roadmap is designed to meet early adoption goals by 2029, with ongoing testing of PQC capabilities in Windows and Linux, and support for hybrid key exchange in OpenSSL.

Microsoft has begun testing quantum-safe TLS connections through Windows Insider Previews, enabling secure communications between Azure and Windows 11 PCs.

The emergence of quantum computing poses significant risks to current encryption, with threats like 'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later,' prompting urgent action to transition to quantum-safe cryptography to protect sensitive data.

Microsoft advocates for early planning and modernization efforts, emphasizing that migration to PQC is a gradual, multi-year process that requires industry-wide coordination and strategic upgrades.