Citi Institute - Quantum Threat The Trillion-Dollar Security Race Is On
Citi Institute’s Quantum Threat: The Trillion-Dollar Security Race Is On examines the growing cybersecurity, economic, and systemic risks posed by quantum computing as it moves closer to the ability to break today’s widely used public-key encryption. The paper argues that organizations should not wait for “Q-Day.” Harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks already create risk for sensitive data that must remain confidential for years or decades, making post-quantum cryptography an immediate business and security priority
Citi Institute’s Quantum Threat: The Trillion-Dollar Security Race Is On examines the growing cybersecurity, economic, and systemic risks posed by quantum computing as it moves closer to the ability to break today’s widely used public-key encryption. The paper argues that organizations should not wait for “Q-Day.” Harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks already create risk for sensitive data that must remain confidential for years or decades, making post-quantum cryptography an immediate business and security priority.
The report explores the potential impact across financial services, government, healthcare, telecommunications, critical infrastructure, IoT, and blockchain. It estimates that a single-day quantum attack affecting a major U.S. bank’s access to Fedwire could create $2.0 trillion to $3.3 trillion in indirect economic damage, illustrating why quantum risk is increasingly becoming a boardroom issue rather than simply a technology concern.
Importantly, the paper focuses on what organizations can do today. It outlines a five-point approach to quantum-safe migration: Identify, Prioritize, Enable, Migrate, and Sustain, with crypto-agility positioned as a critical capability for adapting systems as standards and threats evolve. The central message is clear: the technology to begin protecting organizations exists today. The real challenge is implementing it across complex global systems at scale.