RESOURCE
The UK NCSC updated its guidance on using TLS to protect data with recommended post-quantum configurations, following the IETF hybrid key agreement RFC for TLS 1.3. It recommends hybrid and pure post-quantum options, states that only TLS 1.3 supports them and earlier versions will not be upgraded, and ties data in transit to its 2031 deadline for high priority migration activities.
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On October 15, 2026 the NCSC published post-quantum updates to its TLS guidance, written by its principal technical director for cryptography. The update follows the IETF's RFC 10024 on post-quantum traditional hybrid key agreement for TLS 1.3 and gives configurations the NCSC considers suitable for general use and for protecting UK government OFFICIAL information. Hybrid options are the most widely deployed in common libraries; pure post-quantum options have stable implementations even though their final RFC is still pending.
Two points carry weight for an operator. TLS 1.3 is the only version that supports post-quantum key exchange, and the NCSC says earlier versions will not be upgraded, so anything still on TLS 1.2 needs to move. And under the NCSC migration timelines, high priority activities are to be complete by 2031, a category the author expects data in transit to fall into for many organizations. IPsec guidance and post-quantum authentication for TLS are to follow.
Canada's ITSM.40.001 sets the same 2031 line for high priority systems, and the G7 call to action Canada co-signed in September points at the same hybrid key exchange. The NCSC has now told its operators what good looks like for TLS. The useful question is not which cipher suite to pick but which of your management interfaces, metering head ends, SCADA gateways and site to site links still negotiate TLS 1.2 or older, because those cannot be configured into compliance at all. Observed on the wire, not asserted on a data sheet. That is the inventory the Discovery Program produces.