SASE Week 2023 On-Demand! Explore sessions.

  • Security Service Edge Products

    Protect against advanced and cloud-enabled threats and safeguard data across all vectors.

  • Borderless SD-WAN

    Confidently provide secure, high-performance access to every remote user, device, site, and cloud.

The platform of the future is Netskope

Intelligent Security Service Edge (SSE), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Cloud Firewall, Next Generation Secure Web Gateway (SWG), and Private Access for ZTNA built natively into a single solution to help every business on its journey to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture.

Go to Products Overview
Netskope video
Next Gen SASE Branch is hybrid — connected, secured, and automated

Netskope Next Gen SASE Branch converges Context-Aware SASE Fabric, Zero-Trust Hybrid Security, and SkopeAI-powered Cloud Orchestrator into a unified cloud offering, ushering in a fully modernized branch experience for the borderless enterprise.

Learn about Next Gen SASE Branch
People at the open space office
  • NewEdge

    NewEdge is the world’s largest, highest-performing security private cloud.

  • Cloud Security Platform

    Unrivaled visibility and real-time data and threat protection on the world's largest security private cloud.

  • Technology Partners & Integrations

    Netskope partners with the strongest companies in enterprise technology.

Embrace a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture

Netskope NewEdge is the world’s largest, highest-performing security private cloud and provides customers with unparalleled service coverage, performance and resilience.

Learn about NewEdge
NewEdge
Your Network of Tomorrow

Plan your path toward a faster, more secure, and more resilient network designed for the applications and users that you support.

Get the white paper
Your Network of Tomorrow
Netskope Cloud Exchange

The Netskope Cloud Exchange (CE) provides customers with powerful integration tools to leverage investments across their security posture.

Learn about Cloud Exchange
Netskope video
Make the move to market-leading cloud security services with minimal latency and high reliability.

Learn about NewEdge
Lighted highway through mountainside switchbacks
Safely enable the use of generative AI applications with application access control, real-time user coaching, and best-in-class data protection.

Learn how we secure generative AI use
Safely Enable ChatGPT and Generative AI
Zero trust solutions for SSE and SASE deployments

Learn about Zero Trust
Boat driving through open sea
Netskope enables a safe, cloud-smart, and fast journey to adopt cloud services, apps, and public cloud infrastructure.

Learn about Industry Solutions
Wind turbines along cliffside
  • Resources

    Learn more about how Netskope can help you secure your journey to the cloud.

  • Blog

    Learn how Netskope enables security and networking transformation through security service edge (SSE).

  • Events & Workshops

    Stay ahead of the latest security trends and connect with your peers.

  • Security Defined

    Everything you need to know in our cybersecurity encyclopedia.

Security Visionaries Podcast

2024 Predictions
Host Emily Wearmouth sits down for a conversation with Sherron Burgess, Senior VP and CISO for BCD Travel, and Shamla Naidoo, Head of Cloud Strategy and Innovation at Netskope, to talk about the hot topics they’re seeing for the year to come.

Play the podcast
2024 Predictions
Latest Blogs

How Netskope can enable the Zero Trust and SASE journey through security service edge (SSE) capabilities.

Read the blog
Sunrise and cloudy sky
SASE Week 2023: Your SASE journey starts now!

Replay sessions from the fourth annual SASE Week.

Explore sessions
SASE Week 2023
What is Security Service Edge?

Explore the security side of SASE, the future of network and protection in the cloud.

Learn about Security Service Edge
Four-way roundabout
  • Our Customers

    Netskope serves more than 2,000 customers worldwide including more than 25 of the Fortune 100

  • Customer Solutions

    We are here for you and with you every step of the way, ensuring your success with Netskope.

  • Netskope Community

    Learn from other network, data, and security professionals.

  • Training and Certification

    Netskope training will help you become a cloud security expert.

We help our customers to be Ready for Anything

See our Customers
Woman smiling with glasses looking out window
Netskope’s talented and experienced Professional Services team provides a prescriptive approach to your successful implementation.

Learn about Professional Services
Netskope Professional Services
The Netskope Community can help you and your team get more value out of products and practices.

Go to the Netskope Community
The Netskope Community
Secure your digital transformation journey and make the most of your cloud, web, and private applications with Netskope training.

Learn about Training and Certifications
Group of young professionals working
  • Company

    We help you stay ahead of cloud, data, and network security challenges.

  • Why Netskope

    Cloud transformation and work from anywhere have changed how security needs to work.

  • Leadership

    Our leadership team is fiercely committed to doing everything it takes to make our customers successful.

  • Partners

    We partner with security leaders to help you secure your journey to the cloud.

Supporting sustainability through data security

Netskope is proud to participate in Vision 2045: an initiative aimed to raise awareness on private industry’s role in sustainability.

Find out more
Supporting Sustainability Through Data Security
Highest in Execution. Furthest in Vision.

Netskope recognized as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Service Edge.

Get the report
Netskope recognized as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Service Edge.
Thinkers, builders, dreamers, innovators. Together, we deliver cutting-edge cloud security solutions to help our customers protect their data and people.

Meet our team
Group of hikers scaling a snowy mountain
Netskope’s partner-centric go-to-market strategy enables our partners to maximize their growth and profitability while transforming enterprise security.

Learn about Netskope Partners
Group of diverse young professionals smiling

A Quantum Arms Race in Cybersecurity

Dec 13 2022

In 2001, NIST (the US National Institute of Standards and Technology) announced Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a new encryption standard, designed to help organisations enhance protections against brute force attacks. The previous Data Encryption Standard (DES) had become vulnerable, with processing power growing, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had proved that DES encryption could be broken in less than 24 hours, therefore a new encryption standard was required.

That was more than two decades ago, and AES has served us well, but are its days numbered?

I am not the only one asking this question. NIST has yet again called for new encryption standards, this time recognising that quantum computing will eventually become a threat to our current encryption standards. The consultation is already well underway, with the four finalist contenders for Quantum-Resistant Cryptographic Algorithms announced. 

The reason for all this activity is simple—quantum computers can use their advanced mechanical processing advantage to crack encryption that previously took an unworkably long time to break. And while today’s quantum computers are currently found in laboratory and research settings, there is talk that in 2023 we could see the first quantum computers go on general sale. Once these machines get into the wrong hands, our aging encryption methods could quickly become compromised in a focused quantum decryption effort. 

In reality of course, these resources don’t even have to be available on the open market to be a threat. State-sponsored actors are behind the majority of large and successful cyber attacks today. Given the funding many states put towards cyber warfare and cyber espionage, it is not far-fetched to imagine that they will be early adopters or even look to gain access to the quantum computers that reside in universities and other research institutions today. 

And perhaps quantum only needs to be a possibility to spur a data breach. The phrase “hack now, crack later” describes cyber criminals anticipating future decryption capabilities and stealing data that they cannot currently decrypt and access today. Think of it as a stolen nest egg.

In this blog headline I referenced a quantum arms race. Many states have publicly declared their interest in getting to quantum first, or at least in the vanguard. It is a widely acknowledged national security advantage as much as it is an economically driven aspiration. You don’t need to have watched all of the James Bond movies to worry about what might happen if the bad guys get to quantum before the good guys.

Given this context, it is inevitable that the security professionals I have been speaking with are starting to plan; working out the extent of change needed and beginning to anticipate impending disruption. As an outline, consider the following as to what organisations should start to think about and what may be helpful in a long-term encryption strategy. Think of it as a Solace for Quantum if you will…

Organisations should start to plan a process for an encryption standards switchover. This plan will need to factor in all platforms and products that are already in the security stack and network architecture, so teams should open channels of communication with all technology vendors to start discussions around how they are planning to tackle the encryption migration. 

Bear in mind that applying quantum-resistant encryption—at least in its early years—is simply not going to be a workable approach for the bulk of your data. It could create huge performance issues if you are expecting to encrypt data that is regularly accessed and used (quantum computers are powerful, but it will take a while before the processing power is ubiquitous enough to be found handling the inline, dynamic decryption that we are all used to for transactions). More appropriately, now is a good time to consider zero trust principles and modern security architectures which will provide a solid foundation upon which to build encryption changes in time.

This is also yet another opportunity for me to advise undertaking a data audit—regular readers will know I see this as an essential starting point for any effective data protection strategy. Identify what data your organisation holds, where it resides, and how access is granted.  

In the immediate period, I would recommend that you pay special attention to data which has long term value. For example, if someone stole it today, would it be worth sitting on it for 1, 3, 5, or 10 years or more until a simple decryption option is available to them? If the answer is yes, this is the data that you should prioritise as the new standards become available.  Realistically, most of the data you need to protect today might never need to be encrypted using quantum-resistant methods—it will lose most of its value before quantum attacks are a reality, so your plans for re-encrypting run-rate data can be phased in for new data rather than retro-fitted against old.

I often get asked what a realistic timeline looks like for quantum security considerations. While we can only wait to see how quickly these machines come to the market, government deadlines provide a useful indication of the expectations of those in the know. As an example, the US Government has specified that all US Government agencies and their suppliers must use quantum-resistant encryption by 2035 (with roll-out set to start in 2025). That may seem a long way off, but it isn’t, and it’s even less time if,for instance, you are an organisation that is part of the supply chain to government agencies across the world.

Also, don’t simply look forward in this planning, you need to look backwards too. While I have said much of your current data may lose value very quickly, your organisation probably has a store of archived data. Don’t forget to evaluate the data protection you have surrounding this long-term storage of data. Identify how long you have held data and audit how it is protected. You may even discover you are still using DES or 3DES!

Finally, think about how you will explain these initiatives, standards changes and your organisation’s change requirements to all necessary stakeholders. All of this planning and activity is likely to impact both resource bandwidth and budget over the coming years. It will also be important to keep in touch with regulatory bodies—both on a national and industry level. Close collaboration will ensure you keep ahead of impending compliance issues and these bodies will also likely start to issue helpful guidelines over the coming months and years.

We can probably all agree that this kind of innovation is one of the most appealing characteristics of the industry for many of us. But any change requires thought and effort to stay ahead. I am looking forward to collaborating with my peers and supporting our customers as we move into this new challenge. Because, as Commander Bond might state, you always want to ensure sensitive data remains For Your Eyes Only.

author image
Neil Thacker
Neil Thacker is a veteran information security professional and a data protection and privacy expert well-versed in the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR).

Stay informed!

Subscribe for the latest from the Netskope Blog