Hackers Are Harvesting Your Encrypted Data Now to Crack It Later | Rik Ferguson Infosecurity EU 2026

Adversaries are stealing encrypted data today that they can't read yet, and stockpiling it until a quantum computer can break it open. In this On Location conversation from InfoSecurity Europe 2026, Sean Martin sits down with Rik Ferguson, VP of Security Intelligence at Forescout, to get into "harvest now, decrypt later," the race toward Q-Day, and why the procurement decisions you make this year already have a quantum problem baked in. Sean keeps the focus where it bites: the business. Which data is actually at risk, who holds the budget, and what you should be doing before the timelines everyone is quoting turn out to be optimistic. In this conversation: • "Harvest now, decrypt later": why encrypted data is being stolen today for a payoff years away • Q-Day timelines — NIST's 2035, Google's 2029, and IBM's fault-tolerant Starling • Why a harvest-now attack has no timestamp, and how that disables incident response • Quantum agility: building systems now so you can swap algorithms later • Why software races ahead while medical devices and OT lag dangerously behind • The Y2K lesson: it was a non-event because people did the work — and most aren't this time 📺 Watch | 🎙️ Listen | ITSPmagazine.com Full InfoSecurity Europe 2026 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/infosecu... All ITSPmagazine event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technolo... CHAPTERS 0:00 - Day one at InfoSecurity Europe, and tomorrow's post-quantum keynote 1:30 - "We can wait, can't we?" The premise, and why we can't 3:00 - Harvest now, decrypt later: the infrastructure already exists 5:30 - Volt Typhoon, BGP, and stockpiling encrypted data 7:30 - Q-Day timelines: 2029, 2035, and IBM Starling 9:00 - Why a harvest-now attack breaks incident response 11:00 - Which data actually matters: shelf life and business risk 13:00 - Quantum agility, and why OT and medical devices lag 14:30 - The Y2K lesson and the stealth combine harvester 15:30 - What's next: "Assume Autonomy" #Cybersecurity #Infosec #PostQuantum #PQC #QuantumComputing #Encryption #RikFerguson #Forescout #RedefiningCyberSecurity #InfosecurityEurope