Published: Jan 13, 2026
Pioneering Quantum-Safe Readiness
As the quantum era approaches, data protected by today’s cryptographic algorithms face growing risk, including data exposure and operational disruption. Recognising the urgency to prepare Singapore for a quantum-resilient future, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) partnered with NCS to evaluate Automated Cryptography Discovery and Inventory (ACDI) tools as part of national efforts to strengthen quantum-safe security capabilities and best practices.
To generate actionable insights while minimising data exposure, the evaluation was conducted in a sandbox environment across more than nine representative use cases, using three distinct scanning approaches. This facilitated a comprehensive assessment of the capabilities and coverage of commercially available ACDI tools.
This collaboration provides CSA with valuable technical insights to inform future national cybersecurity policies and represents a meaningful step towards enhancing Singapore’s digital resilience.
Key takeaways
- Cryptographic visibility is foundational to quantum readiness. As organisations prepare for the quantum era, comprehensive visibility of cryptographic assets is essential. Automated Cryptographic Discovery and Inventory (ACDI) tools are an emerging and promising approach to automate discovery and provide centralised visibility, but they require careful evaluation and testing prior to deployment.
- Sandboxed evaluations enable insight without operational risk. Assessing ACDI tools in a secure, sandboxed environment allows for rigorous evaluation and testing, while avoiding exposure of sensitive production data.
- Early, practical insights inform policy and long-term resilience. Evaluating tools across multiple discovery techniques and realistic use cases provides a stronger evidence base to guide future national cybersecurity policies and strengthen post-quantum resilience.
The challenge
Cryptographic discovery is a critical process that enables organisations to make informed risk assessments and remediation decisions to address the quantum threat. However, this process is challenging, as cryptographic assets are deeply embedded across digital infrastructures. ACDI tools have emerged as a promising solution, automating the discovery process to provide centralised visibility and streamline workflows, thus reducing manual effort.
However, many of these tools are still in the early stages of development, with vendors expanding their roadmaps to support a broader range of cryptographic use cases, asset types, and deployment models.
Recognising these challenges, CSA partnered with NCS to evaluate ACDI tools as part of national efforts to strengthen quantum-safe security capabilities and best practices.
The solution
An on-premise sandbox environment was established to facilitate the evaluation of ACDI tools. This setup enabled the deployment of the tools in a controlled environment, ensuring the evaluation could proceed without compromising sensitive operational data. The evaluation covered more than nine use cases, including cryptographic visibility, asset discovery, policy compliance, inventory management, and quantum-related vulnerability assessments. By doing so, the project was able to comprehensively assess the capabilities and use cases of these tools.
Snapshot of capabilities
- Multi-approach scanning: Code, host, and network scans provided deep insights into cryptographic usage, including undetected or undocumented assets.
- Comprehensive use-case adaptability: Tools were tested across nine distinct use cases, covering discovery, analysis, inventory management, policy compliance, and quantum vulnerability management.
- On-premise sandbox: Simulated operational environments to ensure accurate performance benchmarking of ACDI tools while minimising data exposure.
The impact
Equipped CSA and NCS with valuable technical insights into the capabilities and use cases of ACDI tools. These insights will guide CSA in informing future national cybersecurity policies and securing Singapore’s digital infrastructure in the post-quantum era.
“This partnership with NCS marks a key milestone in our efforts to strengthen digital resilience as we prepare for the next generation of cybersecurity challenges in the post-quantum era.”
Ching Wei Wen
Assistant Director, Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore