Palo Alto CEO tips nation-states to weaponize quantum computing by 2029
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora has suggested hostile nation-states will possess quantum computers in 2029, or even a little earlier, at which point most security appliances will need to be replaced.
He would say that, of course, given that Palo Alto Networks’ shareholders would like nothing more than a quantum-FUD-inspired rip-and-replace frenzy as users defend against quantum computers’ ability to swiftly divine encryption keys.
Arora, however, said it on Palo Alto’s Q1 2026 earnings call on Wednesday, therefore putting it on the record as an opportunity shareholders should expect the company to cash in on and said Palo Alto will soon have a full range of quantum-safe products. CTO Lee Klarich suggested the market is ready to buy that kit, saying that over the last six to nine months he’s noticed “a pretty significant inflection in the number of customers that are starting to talk about this and plan for this from an urgency perspective.”
Related Knowledge Center: Digital privacy and data security
If you’re online, you’re generating a constant stream of information about yourself — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes unwittingly — that is assembled and used to craft your online experience. And generate wealth for data brokers. Meanwhile, designers and managers of the digital infrastructure on which the world depends are engaged in a never-ending effort to thwart attempts, by both criminal enterprises and state actors, to exploit vulnerabilities in those systems.
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