Patero Inc. and Carahsoft Technology Corp. Partner on PQC
Patero and Carahsoft Prepare Federal Agencies for Quantum Threats
Patero and Carahsoft
Carahsoft Technology Corp., the Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, has partnered with cryptographic inventory and post-quantum encryption pioneer Patero Inc. to meet quantum computing's security demands.
As Patero's Master Government Aggregator, Carahsoft will provide PanoQoR, Patero's cryptographic inventory and risk assessment solution, to the Public Sector. This alliance helps critical infrastructure, defence, and federal agencies achieve Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) transition deadlines.
Change to Post-Quantum Cryptography Operations
This collaboration is vital because quantum computing will transform cybersecurity. Strong quantum computers could decrypt the asymmetric encryption used by governments and non-governmental organisations worldwide, posing an existential threat. This move is driven by US and Canadian laws that require agencies to inventory quantum-vulnerable cryptographic equipment.
A major concern is “harvest-now, decrypt-later” (HNDL) operations, in which encrypted data shielded by traditional methods is purposely collected now to establish an unnoticeable breach window for future quantum computers to decrypt. U.S. officials must lower this risk.
After the White House released National Security Memorandum 10 in May 2022, OMB issued Memorandum M-23-02 to address quantum risk. M-23-02 requires agencies to prioritise a yearly inventory of quantum-attack-prone cryptographic assets and information systems.
Under OMB M-23-02, agencies must submit PQC transition plans and complete high-priority migrations by 2030, per NSA CNSA 2.0 advice. Canadian departments must also complete important changes by 2031, submit first PQC migration plans by April 2026, and achieve full compliance by 2035.
Quantum Readiness Capabilities
Patero's PanoQoR platform solves the cryptography detection and compliance bottleneck for public sector organisations by excelling in three areas:
Cryptographic Discovery & Inventory: Clients may find all classical encryption in cloud ecosystems, IT, and OT. To abandon older encryption methods, this inventory must be created.
Quantum Risk Scoring & Prioritisation: Quantum risk scoring and prioritisation enable regulatory deadline prioritisation and HNDL risk assessment for an organisation. Compliance Reporting & Continuous Monitoring: The software lets agencies provide auditable proof of their progress towards OMB M-23-02 and CNSA 2.0 benchmarks.
Critical Capability Scale Public Sectorwide Carahsoft helps public sector organisations in education, healthcare, state and local government, and the federal government. It now offers PanoQoR to its network. Carahsoft, Patero's Master Government Aggregator, makes quantum computing available to the public sector through reseller partners and large contracts.
These contracts include ITES-SW2 Contract W52P1J-20-D-0042, NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement #AR2472, NASA SEWP V (NNG15SC03B and NNG15SC27B), and OMNIA Partners Contract #R240303.
Peter Bentley, Patero's COO, said, “Agencies must know what encryption they have today before they can protect what matters tomorrow.” Bentley recommended Carahsoft to scale this vital capacity across the US and Canada because to their unmatched Public Sector network.
Troy Meraw, Quantum Solutions Program Manager at Carahsoft, said, “Carahsoft and reseller partners are enabling security leaders to take proactive steps now to meet mandates by bringing Patero’s cryptographic inventory and PQC remediation tools to Government and enterprise customers.”
The Quantum Startup Foundry at the University of Maryland, College Park houses quantum secure communications expert Patero. PanoQoR prioritises vulnerability mitigation against present and future cryptographic attacks while measuring risk. The company offers crypto-agile post-quantum security solutions that use NIST-standardized quantum-resistant encryption algorithms to protect data-in-motion from future direct decryption attacks and steal-now and decrypt-later attacks.
Carahsoft's ability to offer cybersecurity, multicloud, dev-ops, and artificial intelligence to its large client base matches Patero's experience since the relationship began.