Harvest Now, Decrypt Later: Which Credentials SMEs Should Migrate First to PQC

Harvest now, decrypt later (HNDL) is an active cyberespionage strategy: adversaries capture today's RSA- or ECC-encrypted traffic to decrypt it once quantum computers mature, estimated between 2030 and 2035 by NIST. The credentials an SME must migrate first are those with the longest lifespan and highest privilege: admin SSH keys, private CA certificates, IPsec VPN configurations, and long-lived API tokens.