By David Israel • August 19, 2026
Jerusalem, 19 August, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Quantum computers could one day break some of the encryption protecting the Internet, and an Israeli-led consortium is working to make sure communications networks are ready before that day arrives.
“the Israeli Post Quantum Communications consortium is developing state-of-the-art technologies to keep the Internet safe,” Yaakov Stein, chief technology officer of Hod Hasharon-based cybersecurity company Allot Ltd. and chairman of the consortium’s board of directors told The Press Service of Israel.
Israel’s first domestically produced quantum computer unveiled in Jerusalem on Dec. 17, 2024. Photo by Israel Innovation Authority/TPS-IL
The initiative, which launched in July but was announced on Tuesday, brings together companies including NVIDIA, Elta, Gilat Satellite Networks, and Classiq, as well as academic institutions including the Technion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion University, Bar-Ilan University, the Open University, and the University of Haifa. It is also backed by the Israel Innovation Authority.
The threat driving the initiative is that sufficiently powerful quantum computers could eventually break some of the encryption methods on which digital communications currently rely, Stein told TPS-IL. Replacing existing communications infrastructure could take years, which is why preparations must begin long before sufficiently powerful quantum computers can pose the threat.
“Quantum computers, which were for a long time in the realm of pure science fiction, seem to be getting closer to reality,” Stein explained, adding that “along with the great advances that quantum computers might convey, they endanger many of the fundamental security mechanisms which enable today’s Internet.”
“For example, online financial transactions depend on authenticating the entity to which you pay and on maintaining confidentiality of your credit card details. These mechanisms exploit sophisticated mathematics that can’t be circumvented by conventional computers, but that can be outwitted by sufficiently capable quantum computers,” Stein said.
“Transitioning to quantum-resistant communications is one of the most important cybersecurity challenges facing the world today,” he noted. “And so here in Israel, we decided that we have to both for the country itself and for our place in the high-tech world, work on it as well. So, we have 10 companies and 10 academic groups who are working together to develop and deploy these new technologies.”
The consortium will focus on three approaches: post-quantum cryptography (PQC), which is designed to protect data using encryption methods resistant to quantum attacks; quantum key distribution (QKD), which uses quantum properties to help securely distribute encryption keys; and hybrid systems that combine the two.
The research will cover a wide range of communications infrastructure, including optical networks, Ethernet, Internet Protocol (IP) networks, cellular and satellite networks, data centers, and Internet communications.
Rather than develop a single, targeted security product, the consortium will examine how post-quantum protection can be integrated across different layers of communications infrastructure.
