CRQC (Cryptanalytically-Relevant Quantum Computer)

Also known as: Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer

A CRQC is a hypothetical fault-tolerant quantum computer with enough logical qubits and gate fidelity to break RSA-2048 or ECC-256 via Shor's algorithm within an operationally meaningful time (hours-days). US NSM-10 and NIST timelines target most public-key deployments to migrate to PQC before CRQCs are expected to appear, driving 3GPP Rel-19+ PQC studies.

Categories: Protocols and StandardsEncryption and Cryptography

CRQC in context

Telecom security is written into standards from 3GPP, GSMA, ETSI, IETF and ITU-T. Understanding which body owns which specification, and how they interlock, is essential for both design and audit work.

Cryptography in telecom spans air-interface ciphers (A5/1, A5/3, ZUC, SNOW, NEA/NIA), transport (IPsec, TLS) and identity (AKA, 5G-AKA, EAP-AKA'). Weak or downgradeable ciphers remain a live risk on 2G/3G fallback.

To place CRQC in the wider telecom-security picture, review SRTP, DTLS-SRTP, Jitter, MEC, WPA2 and XMPP: each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

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