India, Oct. 21 -- As the era of quantum computing approaches, telecom networks and critical digital infrastructure face a fundamental rethinking of how secure communication is managed. Although practical quantum computers capable of breaking today's public key encryption may still be a decade away, the threat is already forming through "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks.

Malicious actors are intercepting and storing encrypted traffic today, with the intent to decrypt it in the future. This means data protected now by conventional cryptographic systems could be compromised once quantum machines become viable, making proactive defences not optional, but essential.

The telecom sector-encompassing mobile network operators, ISPs, and 5G in...