Hack The Box, the leading platform that builds attack-ready teams and organisations, has today released new data that reveals UK financial services firms lack quantum preparedness. The results suggest a lack of awareness around improving quantum readiness in the UK’s financial sector, a key target for cyber criminals.
- FTSE 350 Silence: only 14% of the financial services companies in the FTSE 350 mention quantum technology as a risk factor, in a cyber context, in their most recent annual reports
- Bank preparedness: Only 25% of FTSE 350 listed banks mention quantum technology as a risk factor, in a cyber context, in their latest annual reports
- Minimal hiring signals: Fewer than 2% of financial services companies in the FTSE 350 have live job roles requiring skills related to quantum technology or post-quantum cryptography.
There is a gap between official guidance and practical action taken to improve quantum resilience.
Guidance from the UK’s leading cybersecurity policy makers, including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), is clear. Businesses should be adopting measures to meet the national deadline for full adoption of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) by 2035.
For financial firms, the first phase of building quantum preparedness, outlined last year by the FCA and World Economic Forum, is to build awareness and internal capabilities. Financial firms must ensure that quantum is registering as a security threat and that internal capabilities and skills are in place to ensure a smooth transition to quantum-secure systems.
“This gap doesn’t point to failure, but it does highlight a critical inflection point. If quantum threats aren’t being acknowledged now, the UK financial sector risks entering the next decade without the skills, talent, or preparedness needed to defend its digital infrastructure against quantum-era threats. The threat of ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks, and data longevity in industries like finance make quantum security an immediate priority. However, what we’re currently seeing in the market isn’t inaction, but rather the absence of a well-defined roadmap,” says Haris Pylarinos, Founder and CEO of Hack The Box.
“With finance at the forefront of risk, it’s crucial that financial services companies continue to build a proactive security posture and seek to improve their capacity to deal with future threats. Improving industry awareness and building skills will be an essential step towards full preparedness.”
Hack The Box recently launched Quantum Security Tracks — one of the few hands-on environments inspired by real-world quantum concepts, where professionals can explore quantum threats in practice. Covering topics from Shor’s Algorithm to quantum-enhanced attacks and quantum-secured communication, the track aims to help close the gap between policy and practice, starting with visibility.
