Post-Quantum Cryptography Coalition (PQCC), MITRE
The Post-Quantum Cryptography Coalition (PQCC) is a prominent, US-based global consortium of leading technology companies, academic institutions, and cybersecurity experts. It is not a commercial enterprise but rather a collaborative entity dedicated to addressing the future cybersecurity threat posed by quantum computing. The coalition was formed to facilitate the global transition from current public-key cryptographic standards, which are vulnerable to attack by quantum computers, to new, quantum-resilient algorithms. MITRE, a US-based, not-for-profit organization that operates federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), is a founding member and plays a central leadership and coordination role within the PQCC.
The core mission of the PQCC is to provide critical outreach, guidance, and education to support the migration to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). The coalition brings together a community of expert practitioners to accelerate the public and private sectors' understanding and adoption of the new PQC standards being finalized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The urgency of this mission is driven by the "harvest now, decrypt later" threat, where adversaries can collect and store encrypted data today with the intent of decrypting it in the future once a sufficiently powerful quantum computer is available. The PQCC aims to help organizations protect their sensitive data and digital infrastructure against this looming risk.
Continue…The coalition's work is organized around several key workstreams, including focusing on PQC standardization gaps, developing educational materials for workforce development, supporting the availability of high-quality software implementations, and shaping standards for cryptographic inventory and agility. Its membership includes major industry players such as Microsoft, IBM Quantum, SandboxAQ, and PQShield, among many others.
Products and Services
The PQCC does not offer commercial products or services for sale. Instead, its "products" are freely available resources, guidance documents, and tools designed to assist organizations of all sizes in their migration to quantum-resistant cryptography. Its "services" are the educational and advocacy efforts it undertakes to advance the global PQC transition.
Guidance Documents and Publications (Products)
The coalition's primary offerings are authoritative publications that synthesize the collective expertise of its members into actionable guidance.
PQC Migration Roadmap: This is the flagship publication of the PQCC. Released in May 2025, the roadmap is a comprehensive and tailorable guide designed to assist CIOs, CISOs, and other technology leaders in navigating the complexities of PQC migration. It provides a strategic framework broken down into four critical categories:
- Preparation: Assessing vulnerabilities, identifying stakeholders, and aligning organizational goals with migration timelines.
- Baseline Understanding: Developing a complete inventory of cryptographic assets and prioritizing resources.
- Planning and Execution: Acquiring or developing quantum-safe solutions and implementing them.
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Establishing robust tracking measures and continuously assessing cryptographic security as the threat landscape evolves.
PQC Inventory Workbook: As a companion to the roadmap, the PQCC provides this workbook to serve as a practical resource for building a cryptographic inventory. This is a critical first step for any organization, allowing it to understand where and how cryptography is used across its hardware, software, and communication protocols.
PQC Heatmap: This is a regularly updated informational product that provides a visual representation of the current state of PQC standards and adoption. It tracks the progress of PQC integration across various internet and communications protocols (such as TLS, SSH, and X.509 certificates), giving organizations a clear view of the maturity of the ecosystem.
Comparison of Global PQC Standards: Recognizing that the transition to PQC is a global effort, this workstream product analyzes and evaluates international PQC requirements to assess misalignments that could pose challenges for vendor compliance and interoperability.
Educational and Advisory Services
The services offered by the PQCC are centered on education, advocacy, and community building.
- Technical Education: Through its publications and the expertise of its members, the coalition provides a wealth of technical information to help organizations build their internal knowledge base. This includes detailed explanations of the NIST-selected algorithms (like ML-KEM) and practical considerations for their implementation.
- Standards Advocacy: The PQCC actively engages with standardization bodies and the broader technology community to address gaps in PQC standards and promote the development of interoperable solutions.
- Implementation Support: While not providing direct implementation services, the coalition supports the community by focusing on activities that enable the availability of production-quality, open-source code. This includes exploring side-channel resistance and collaborating with related groups like the Post-Quantum Cryptography Alliance (PQCA) to centralize access to ready-to-use software libraries.
- Community Forum: The coalition acts as a central hub for technologists, researchers, and expert practitioners to collaborate, share experiences, and drive progress on the complex challenge of migrating the world's digital infrastructure to a quantum-safe foundation.
