Palo Alto boss says nation states will soon weaponize quantum computing
Businesses will soon commercialize quantum computing, but nation states might weaponize the technology even sooner, Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora has suggested.
According to Arora, by the time this happens (he predicts it will in 2029), most businesses and organizations will need to replace their security appliances.
Palo Alto, a cybersecurity firm, would quite obviously be interested in providing customers with quantum-safe products – that’s the caveat of Arora’s suggestion. Still, he said it on Palo Alto’s Q1 2026 earnings call, therefore putting it on the record.
Anticipating a rush of quantum-related cyber dangers, Arora expects his cybersecurity firm to capitalize on the opportunity, offer a bunch of quantum-safe products, and cash in.
The company’s chief technology officer, Lee Klarich, chimed in to suggest that the market is ready to buy such products because, well, the cyber world has been talking about quantum for quite a while now.
Indeed, various cyber defenders and government agencies have recently warned organizations to foolproof their systems against quantum hackers.
Current encryption standards – used to protect banking, secure communications, and other sensitive data – are vulnerable to the power of quantum computers.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said this year that large entities and operators of critical national infrastructure must introduce “post-quantum cryptography” (PQC) in order to prevent quantum tech from being deployed to break into their systems.
Palo Alto seems eager to soon offer PQC products to customers. Moreover, Arora seemingly hopes that delivering quantum-safe products will rival the AI boom – even if the latter might turn into a bubble.
“From our perspective, AI and quantum are going to drive a lot more volume. So as the more bits that fly around, the more they need to be inspected, which means the need for bit inspection technologies is not going to go away,” said Arora.
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Once here, quantum computers will be able to perform millions more calculations than classical ones, essentially meaning that machines will be able to learn things faster, a recent study found.
Palo Alto has also raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts on expectations of a surge in demand for its cybersecurity solutions to tackle rising online threats.
Cybersecurity spending has remained resilient in 2025, underpinned by threats from nation-state actors and increasingly sophisticated ransomware attacks, which have benefited companies such as Palo Alto.
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