The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) of the Kingdom of Bahrain has announced a landmark strategic partnership with SandboxAQ, a global leader in AI-driven cybersecurity and cryptographic management, marking one of the world’s first large-scale national commitments to building a quantum-safe economy.
The partnership establishes a nationwide cybersecurity modernisation framework designed to protect Bahrain’s sovereign data, critical infrastructure, and sensitive government and private-sector systems against emerging cyber, cryptographic, and quantum computing threats. As a founding member of the UNICC AI Hub on Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), SandboxAQ will support Bahrain in operationalising post-quantum protection at national scale.
The announcement comes amid growing global concern over “Q-Day” — the point at which cryptographically relevant quantum computers are expected to break today’s widely used encryption standards. While experts estimate such capabilities could emerge as early as 2029, the threat is already active through “harvest-now, decrypt-later” attacks, where adversaries collect encrypted data today with the intent to decrypt it once quantum capabilities mature. For governments, this includes highly sensitive assets such as classified communications, defence data, diplomatic records, and national identity systems.
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) of the Kingdom of Bahrain has announced a landmark strategic partnership with SandboxAQ, a global leader in AI-driven cybersecurity and cryptographic management, marking one of the world’s first large-scale national commitments to building a quantum-safe economy.
The partnership establishes a nationwide cybersecurity modernisation framework designed to protect Bahrain’s sovereign data, critical infrastructure, and sensitive government and private-sector systems against emerging cyber, cryptographic, and quantum computing threats. As a founding member of the UNICC AI Hub on Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), SandboxAQ will support Bahrain in operationalising post-quantum protection at national scale.
The announcement comes amid growing global concern over “Q-Day” — the point at which cryptographically relevant quantum computers are expected to break today’s widely used encryption standards. While experts estimate such capabilities could emerge as early as 2029, the threat is already active through “harvest-now, decrypt-later” attacks, where adversaries collect encrypted data today with the intent to decrypt it once quantum capabilities mature. For governments, this includes highly sensitive assets such as classified communications, defence data, diplomatic records, and national identity systems.
Mohammed Aboul-Magd, Vice President of Product, Cybersecurity at SandboxAQ, added:
“Bahrain is taking a bold and forward-looking step by not only defining policy, but by operationalising the technologies required to defend against rapidly advancing threats. This partnership establishes a dynamic framework that allows the Kingdom to adapt quickly as new vulnerabilities emerge, setting a new benchmark for cyber resilience across the region.”
The initiative forms a core pillar of Bahrain’s long-term cybersecurity strategy, reinforcing the Kingdom’s commitment to secure digital transformation, national data protection, and sustainable economic resilience in the post-quantum era.
