The Rise of 'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later' Attacks Explained

Understanding the Attack Vector

Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL) is a strategic attack where adversaries collect encrypted data today, betting on future technological advances to decrypt it.

Who's At Risk?

Anyone transmitting sensitive data that will remain valuable for 10+ years: medical records, financial information, government secrets, intellectual property, and personal communications.

The Economics of HNDL

Storage is cheap. Collecting terabytes of encrypted traffic costs virtually nothing compared to the potential value of future decryption. It's a low-risk, high-reward strategy for nation-states and sophisticated actors.

Defense Strategies

1. Use post-quantum encryption now
2. Minimize data transmission
3. Use offline encryption when possible
4. Implement forward secrecy
5. Regularly rotate keys with quantum-safe algorithms

CQRIT's Solution

CQRIT's offline, quantum-safe encryption means your data is never transmitted in a form vulnerable to HNDL attacks. Keys generated from memory leave no trace to harvest.