By Gil Vega, Chief Information Security Officer, Veeam
If you work in cybersecurity, you know there’s never a dull moment. Every year brings new threats, new technologies, and yes, new acronyms. But few topics are as buzzy or as potentially game changing as quantum computing. It’s not just hype: quantum computers will eventually be powerful enough to break some of the encryption we rely on today. That’s why it’s important for Veeam to share how we are preparing for what’s next. Clarity on the approach helps customers, partners, and employees align timelines, integration points, and the practical steps that make the transition safe and predictable.
Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is evolving fast, and there’s a lot of noise out there. Veeam’s job is to cut through that noise and make sure we are tracking the right developments. That means focusing on the work that matters — standards that shape roadmaps, protocol changes that affect interoperability, and vendor commitments that determine supportability. We spend a lot of time talking with our cryptographic solution providers and keeping an eye on industry forums.
Those conversations center on readiness signals like security assurance, entropy and key management, hybrid modes, performance profiles for backup and recovery, and long-term support lifecycles — so decisions are based on evidence, not hype. We’re not just spectators. We’re engaging, asking tough questions, and making sure we’re ready to move when the time is right. The plan is to design for crypto agility, test early in controlled pilots, and stage adoption to minimize disruption while maximizing security value. And we are currently seeing growing interest from CISOs, boards, as well as our own sales and strategy teams for an official point of view on post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
Standards Are Finally Taking Shape
Here’s some good news: NIST has now published the first official post-quantum cryptography standards — FIPS 203 (ML‑KEM), FIPS 204 (ML‑DSA), and FIPS 205 (SLH‑DSA). For those of us who’ve been following PQC, this is a big milestone. The industry finally has a clearer path forward and is beginning to move from research to standardization and, ultimately, to implementation at scale. We’re aligning our own roadmap with these standards and the broader security community. I believe this kind of alignment is critical for all of us to eventually get quantum-safe encryption right.
We are not going to bolt on unproven crypto. Instead, Veeam is working with upstream cryptographic providers, including OpenSSL, to track PQC readiness and enterprise grade support. This includes monitoring library roadmaps, ABI stability, platform support, protocol evolution (e.g., PQC in TLS and codesigning), and long-term maintenance commitments. As part of our FIPS 140-3 certification work, we’ve engaged with upstream providers regarding PQC readiness and entropy considerations; those are pending and expected. Our goal is to integrate PQC when the underlying libraries are enterprise-ready, validated, and operationally supportable in customer environments. In practice, that means clear validation pathways, measured performance overheads for backup and recovery workloads, proven interoperability, and support models customers can rely on.
The next phase in this journey for Veeam is ecosystem maturation to a level where enterprise-ready libraries have performant, stable, and validated implementations that are able to be widely used in cryptographic libraries and protocols (TLS, code signing, etc.), along with guidance for hybrid modes. Hybrid negotiation and downgrade resistance will be key to maintaining compatibility during the transition. Providers like OpenSSL are estimating widespread adoption in the 2027 to 2030 window, which is a realistic timetable. At Veeam, we’re already planning so we can integrate these algorithms as soon as they’re production ready and as soon as we’re confident they’ll keep your data safe.
Security Today, Not Just Tomorrow
Quantum threats may be on the horizon, but we haven’t taken our eyes off today’s challenges. Operational resilience, secure-by-design practices, and validated cryptography remain the first line of defense. We’re proud that Veeam is certified with FIPS 140-3 (Certificate #5156), the latest benchmark for cryptographic security. That means you can trust that our current solutions have robust, independently verified encryption while we keep building toward the future. Even so, there are still some steps CISOs can take today to make a better tomorrow:
Inventory cryptography dependencies: Identify where and how public key crypto is used (KEM, signatures, key exchange) across products, services, and third-party integrations.
Design for crypto‑agility: Ensure you can swap algorithms and parameters with minimal code and operational changes.
Assess “harvest-now, decrypt-later” exposure: Prioritize long-lived data and interfaces with high confidentiality requirements for early PQC adoption as it matures.
Align to standards and timelines: Track NIST FIPS 203/204/205, related SPs, and government guidance (e.g., CNSA 2.0) to steer roadmaps and procurement.
Pilot safely: As upstream libraries introduce PQC and hybrid modes, test in controlled environments to validate performance, interoperability, and crypto hygiene.
Eyes on the Horizon
Managing quantum risk is a strategic exercise in both preparation and timing. The horizon is clear: standardized postquantum algorithms are emerging, and the ecosystem is moving toward adoption. The controls today are also clear: strong, validated cryptography, secure configurations, and operational resilience that protect data while the ecosystem matures.
Veeam’s adoption strategy for PQC emphasizes three principles. First, align to standards and authoritative guidance to ensure long-term compatibility and support. Second, coordinate with upstream cryptographic providers and platform vendors so implementations are robust, perform well at scale, and can be supported in production. Third, maintain crypto agility by designing systems and processes that can introduce new algorithms and parameters with minimal disruption.
As enterprise-ready libraries and hybrid modes become available, PQC will be introduced where it reduces risk most and can be supported reliably — beginning with transport key establishment and digital signatures, then expanding as protocols, platforms, and tooling mature. Throughout this journey, customers can expect ongoing communication, conservative defaults, and practical guidance for planning and validation.
Next steps customers can take today:
- Inventory cryptographic dependencies and prioritize long-lived data and interfaces for early PQC readiness.
- Validate crypto agility — ensure algorithms and parameters can be updated with minimal operational impact.
- Engage Veeam for workshops, roadmap reviews, and controlled pilots as the ecosystem advances.
For questions about quantum readiness, migration planning, or testing approaches, customers are encouraged to contact their Veeam representative.