Persona A
Motivated learner
You are building from a first security cert or adjacent IT work toward PQC migration literacy. Security+ is one example of that baseline, not a required identity.
PLAIN PQC · FREE COURSE
From Zero to Quantum‑Ready
A plain-language course in post-quantum cryptography, PKI migration, and the PKIMM
Start with a working picture of the quantum threat, then move through the NIST standards, vendor evaluation, inventory, and migration. Official PQCMM assesses products and services; this course also uses those six levels as a personal learning scaffold.
42 lessons · ~15 hours · Course steps 0→5 (PQCMM scaffold)
Who this course is for
Persona B
SMB decision-maker
You own budget and risk for a small or mid-size organization. You need plain-language stakes, vendor questions, and an honest picture of cost and timing.
Persona C
IT professional / migration executor
You run certificates, TLS, VPN, or PKI operations. You need checklists, hybrid designs, and a year-by-year path you can actually carry out.
What learners build along the way
Vendor evaluation worksheet
Unit 2 Vendor Evaluation Worksheet
CBOM walk-through
Reading a Real CBOM — Structure and Fields
Migration checklists
The Corporate Migration Checklist in Context. The Network Migration Checklist in Context.
PKIMM self-assessment
The PKIMM Self-Assessment — Doing It for Real
Personal readiness plan
Personal PQC Readiness Plan
Unit overview
- 0.1 What a Quantum Computer Actually Is Not started
- 0.2 Why RSA and ECC Are On The Clock Not started
- 0.3 Harvest Now, Decrypt Later — The Threat That Already Started Not started
- 0.4 What a Maturity Model Is and Why PQCMM Matters Not started
- 0.5 Locating Where You Are on the PQCMM Scale Not started
- 1.1 The Three NIST Standards — Plain Language Not started
- 1.2 ML-KEM — The New Key Exchange Not started
- 1.3 ML-DSA — The New Digital Signature Not started
- 1.4 SLH-DSA — The Hash-Based Backup Not started
- 1.5 Traditional PKI — What Needs to Move and Why Not started
- 1.6 The Deprecation Clock Not started
- 1.7 The PKIC Ecosystem — Who Does What Not started
- 2.1 What 'Standards-Compliant' Actually Means Not started
- 2.2 How TLS Uses PQC Today — Hybrid TLS Live Demo Not started
- 2.3 Reading a Vendor's PQC Claim Critically Not started
- 2.4 The Migration Stakes Tour Not started
- 2.5 CA/Browser Forum vs PKIC — Who Actually Enforces What Not started
- 2.6 The Deprecation Schedule in Practice Not started
- 2.W Unit 2 Vendor Evaluation Worksheet Not started
- 3.1 What Is a CBOM and Why It Comes Before Everything Else Not started
- 3.2 Reading a Real CBOM — Structure and Fields Not started
- 3.3 Crypto-Agility — What It Really Means for a System Not started
- 3.4 Discovery Tooling — How Organizations Find Their Crypto Not started
- 3.5 The Corporate Migration Checklist in Context Not started
- 3.6 The Network Migration Checklist in Context Not started
- 4.1 Hybrid Certificates — Why They Exist and How They Work Not started
- 4.2 Designing a PKI Hierarchy for Graceful Migration Not started
- 4.3 The 5-Year Corporate Migration Roadmap — Year by Year Not started
- 4.4 Hardware Migration — HSMs, Smart Cards, IoT Devices Not started
- 4.5 Network Migration Deep Dive — VPN, TLS, DNSSEC, Routing Not started
- 4.6 The PKIMM Self-Assessment — Doing It for Real Not started
- 4.7 What Migration Actually Costs — Honest Numbers Not started
- 4.8 Under-Resourced Organizations — Who Gets Left Behind Not started
- 5.1 What PQCMM Certification Actually Means Not started
- 5.2 The Three Assurance Routes Not started
- 5.3 PQC Performance Benchmarking Not started
- 5.4 Quantum Networking & PQC Not started
- 5.5 PKIC Working Groups — Where Standards Get Made Not started
- 5.6 Digital Equity & PQC Access Not started
- 5.7 Beyond NIST — Other Certification Paths Not started
- 5.8 Decentralized PKI & DIDs in the Post-Quantum Era Not started
- 5.D Personal PQC Readiness Plan Not started
Your progress
0 of 42 lessons complete
Estimated time remaining: ~15 hours
Course step: Pre-step 0
What you will be able to do
Explain what quantum computing means for cryptography in use today, and why Harvest Now, Decrypt Later makes waiting expensive.
Describe the three NIST PQC standards — ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA — in plain language, including what they replace.
Read a vendor PQC claim critically and tell standards-compliant from marketing.
Use CBOM, crypto-agility, and discovery ideas before you rewrite infrastructure.
Sketch a hybrid-certificate and PKI-hierarchy migration that an under-resourced team can sequence.
Place your learning against the PQCMM scaffold and the PKIMM 2.0.0 organizational model.
Official PQCMM assesses products and services; this course also uses those six levels as a personal learning scaffold.
PKIC has not reviewed or endorsed this course.