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Build a living, cross-functional inventory that shows where cryptography is used, what it protects, who owns it, how long confidentiality is required, and how difficult it will be to replace. Combine network and endpoint discovery, software and cloud records, existing asset data, and supplier disclosures. Automated scanners are essential, but they cannot reliably see cryptography embedded inside every commercial product or device.
Use the resulting inventory to rank systems by business impact, data sensitivity, exposure, confidentiality lifetime, operational importance, supply-chain dependency, and migration effort. That ranking becomes the foundation for a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration roadmap rather than a list of algorithms with no operational context.
What a cryptographic inventory is—and what it is not
A cryptographic inventory records the use of cryptography across applications, services, devices, data flows, protocols, libraries, firmware, cloud systems, and supplier products. A useful record connects each cryptographic dependency to the system and data it protects, the responsible owner, and the work required to change it.
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The inventory should answer five operational questions for every significant finding:
- Where is cryptography being used?
- What algorithm, protocol, library, certificate, or service provides it?
- Which applications, business processes, devices, and suppliers depend on it?
- What data or function does it protect, and for how long must that protection remain confidential or authentic?
- What would replacement require, and what could fail if the change is delayed?
NIST’s post-quantum guidance recommends that technology managers begin by inventorying systems that use encryption. NIST says its first three finalized PQC standards were released in 2024, and the related overview page was updated on February 27, 2026. NIST mathematician Dustin Moody summarized the urgency: “We encourage organizations to begin their transition to these standards immediately to ensure their data remains secure in the quantum era.”
Set the scope and put the right people in charge
Inventory work fails when it is treated as an isolated security scan. Establish ownership before collecting data, and include both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT).
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- Business services and applications, including custom and legacy software.
- Databases, file stores, backups, archives, and data exchanged with partners.
- Internet-facing services, internal networks, remote-access systems, and identity infrastructure.
- Endpoints, servers, appliances, mobile devices, industrial control systems, and embedded devices.
- Firmware, boot processes, signed software updates, and device-management channels.
- Cloud services, managed platforms, containers, APIs, and infrastructure-as-code pipelines.
- Software source code, third-party libraries, build systems, CI/CD pipelines, and package dependencies.
- Products and services supplied by vendors, contractors, and strategic partners.
Write down the organization, environments, business units, geographic regions, data classes, and service boundaries covered by the first inventory cycle. Mark exclusions explicitly so an apparent absence of cryptography is not mistaken for proof that a system was checked.
Assign roles
- Security and privacy risk managers: translate findings into exposure, confidentiality-lifetime, and compliance priorities.
- IT and OT owners: identify dependencies, maintenance windows, safety constraints, and acceptable downtime.
- Application and platform engineers: explain libraries, protocols, build dependencies, and replacement options.
- Enterprise architects: map shared services and avoid migrating one component while leaving a hidden dependency behind.
- Procurement and supplier managers: obtain embedded-cryptography disclosures, upgrade commitments, testing dates, and expected costs.
- Records, privacy, and data stewards: establish how sensitive data is classified and how long secrecy is required.
Give one accountable owner authority to resolve duplicate records, approve risk ratings, and require responses from suppliers. Distributed collection is useful; distributed accountability is not.
Discover cryptographic use from multiple evidence sources
No single discovery method provides complete coverage. Use several sources and correlate their results with existing asset and ownership records.
1. Inspect network protocols and reachable services
Begin with externally reachable services, remote-access paths, email and web gateways, VPNs, APIs, service-to-service connections, and administrative protocols. Record the protocol version, negotiated algorithms, certificates and chains, endpoint identity, exposure, and the applications behind each service.
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Network inspection is especially valuable for finding quantum-vulnerable public-key exchanges and signatures that can be attacked from outside. It does not prove that an internal application, an offline device, or an embedded product is free of cryptography.
2. Examine endpoints, servers, applications, and libraries
Review installed software, shared libraries, language runtimes, cryptographic modules, certificate stores, configuration files, and update mechanisms. Include code that performs encryption, key agreement, digital signatures, certificate validation, token signing, secure boot, disk protection, database protection, and backup encryption.
Capture both direct use and inherited use. An application may call a platform library that chooses algorithms at runtime, while a service may inherit TLS or certificate behavior from a reverse proxy or cloud load balancer.
3. Scan source code and CI/CD dependencies
Use source-code analysis and dependency inventories to find cryptographic APIs, algorithm identifiers, certificate handling, key-management calls, and packages that include cryptographic implementations. Review build scripts and deployment manifests because a dependency can be introduced during packaging rather than in the application source.
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Record the repository, branch or release, build pipeline, package version, owning team, and production services that consume the result. A finding in source code is not automatically a production exposure; connect it to deployed assets and data flows.
4. Correlate existing enterprise records
Join discovery results to configuration-management and asset inventories, identity and access-management records, endpoint detection and response data, vulnerability records, service catalogs, and continuous diagnostics and mitigation data. These systems add ownership, location, lifecycle, and business-service context that a scanner usually lacks.
Use a stable asset or service identifier to merge records. Keep the original evidence source and collection date so an owner can distinguish a current observation from an inherited or stale record.
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5. Ask suppliers about cryptography they embed
Require vendors to disclose cryptographic algorithms, protocols, libraries, certificates, key-management dependencies, secure-boot mechanisms, signed-update processes, and hardware security modules used in their products and hosted services. Ask specifically about components that cannot be inspected by your tools.
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NIST’s multi-agency fact sheet warns that discovery tools may not identify cryptography embedded inside products. A supplier statement is not a substitute for testing, but it closes a visibility gap that a network or endpoint scan cannot close.
Use a record format that supports decisions
Capture enough context to trace a cryptographic finding to a system, owner, protected data, and migration action. The following fields are a practical minimum.
| Inventory field | What to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| System or service | Authoritative name, identifier, environment, location, and business owner | Provides accountability and prevents duplicate findings |
| Cryptographic use | Encryption, key establishment, digital signature, authentication, integrity, secure boot, or another purpose | Shows what must be preserved during replacement |
| Algorithm and implementation | Algorithm, mode or parameter set where known, library, module, firmware component, or managed service | Identifies quantum-vulnerable and replacement candidates |
| Protocol or service | Protocol, API, certificate profile, endpoint, port, cloud control, or application interface | Connects the finding to configuration and interoperability work |
| Key and certificate metadata | Key type, owner, associated algorithm, certificate or chain, expiration, rotation policy, and lifecycle status; never the secret key itself | Enables renewal, dependency, and transition planning without exposing secrets |
| Dependencies | Calling applications, downstream services, devices, libraries, suppliers, and update paths | Reveals the blast radius of a change |
| Protected asset | Data set, transaction, identity, control function, or operational process | Links technical use to business and safety impact |
| Exposure and lifetime | Internet or partner exposure, sensitivity, retention period, and required confidentiality duration | Highlights harvest-now-decrypt-later risk and long-lived secrets |
| Evidence | Scanner result, configuration, source-code reference, supplier statement, interview, collection date, and confidence | Allows validation and follow-up when evidence conflicts |
| Migration state | Not assessed, assessed, planned, testing, migrated, accepted risk, or retired | Turns the inventory into a roadmap tracker |
For public-key cryptography, distinguish key-establishment and signature uses. Both may require PQC changes, but their protocol dependencies, certificate handling, performance constraints, and rollout paths can differ. Also record symmetric cryptography and hashing where they are part of a larger protocol or policy decision; the inventory is broader than a list of public-key algorithms.
Classify systems by data, business impact, and time
Risk prioritization should combine technical exposure with the consequences of compromise. A public-facing service protecting ordinary short-lived data may be easier to address than an isolated industrial system that controls a safety-critical process, even if the latter is harder to scan.
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- System impact: consequences for safety, revenue, service availability, legal obligations, and public trust.
- Data sensitivity: personal, financial, health, proprietary, national-security, operational, or otherwise restricted information.
- Confidentiality lifetime: how long the data must remain secret, including archives and backups that may be decrypted years later.
- External exposure: internet reachability, partner access, remote administration, and datasets accessible outside the organization.
- Critical process dependency: whether the cryptographic component supports an essential business or control function.
- Supply-chain dependency: reliance on a product whose embedded implementation or upgrade path is controlled by a supplier.
- Migration effort: protocol changes, certificate replacement, hardware limits, downtime, validation, safety approval, and interoperability testing.
- Evidence confidence: whether the record is confirmed, inferred from configuration, or awaiting a supplier response.
Use practical priority bands
| Priority | Typical characteristics | Immediate action |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent planning | High-impact or safety-critical system; long-lived sensitive data; public or partner exposure; quantum-vulnerable public-key use; or an unresponsive supplier | Assign an executive owner, validate the finding, identify compensating controls, and start replacement and supplier work |
| High | Important business service or sensitive data with significant dependency or testing effort | Define a target architecture, migration prerequisites, test environment, and funding path |
| Routine | Limited exposure, shorter confidentiality lifetime, and a supported upgrade path | Track in the normal platform or application upgrade cycle |
| Defer or retire | Unused, duplicate, or scheduled-for-retirement component with no continuing protected data | Verify retirement, revoke or replace associated certificates, and close the record with evidence |
Do not assign a high priority solely because an algorithm appears on a scanner report. Confirm what the algorithm protects, whether the system is exposed, how long the data matters, and whether a replacement can be deployed safely.
Account for harvest-now-decrypt-later exposure
An attacker may collect encrypted traffic or data today and attempt to decrypt it when a sufficiently capable quantum computer exists. This makes confidentiality lifetime a present-day inventory field, not a distant planning detail.
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Ask data owners:
- Would disclosure still cause harm after the system or transaction is no longer operational?
- Are archives, backups, telemetry, or intercepted communications retained for many years?
- Can an outside party obtain the ciphertext, certificates, public keys, or protocol transcripts?
- Does the system use public-key exchange or signatures that will require protocol and certificate changes?
Prioritize long-lived secrets and externally accessible datasets even when the current application has no known compromise. For custom-built legacy technology, document the risk to data or functions and choose between migration, redesign, compensating security upgrades, or controlled retirement.
Evaluate discovery tools without assuming complete coverage
NIST’s migration FAQ names example tools and resources, not an exhaustive catalog or a product ranking. Verify current availability, supported environments, capabilities, data-handling terms, and product status directly with each provider.
| Discovery area | Examples named by NIST | Questions to ask before adoption |
|---|---|---|
| SSH and TLS server discovery | pqcscan | Which protocols, endpoints, certificate properties, and algorithm details are detected? How are results exported? |
| SSL/TLS cipher-suite discovery | sslscan2 | Does it cover the required endpoint types and provide repeatable evidence for asset owners? |
| Certificate relationships | crt.sh | What certificates associated with a domain or organization can be found, and how will ownership and validity be confirmed? |
| Public-edge PQC signals | cyberzero PQC Edge Scanner | Which public services and transition indicators are supported, and what remains outside the scan? |
| Commercial or collaborator platforms | SandboxAQ AQtive Guard, Data-Warehouse PCert, Keyfactor AgileSec, Cisco Mercury, Tychon Cryptographic Inventory | How do they cover endpoints, source code, cloud, embedded products, integrations, evidence retention, and supplier data? |
| Source-code analysis | CodeQL | Can queries identify cryptographic APIs and dependencies in the languages and repositories you operate? |
| Central tracking | PQC Coalition’s PQC Inventory Workbook | Can it capture ownership, protected data, priority, evidence, supplier status, and migration state at system or asset level? |
Compare options on coverage of network, endpoint and server, source-code and CI/CD, cloud, and embedded-product cryptography; ability to identify algorithm and purpose; integration with asset, identity, endpoint, and risk records; deployment and data-handling requirements; evidence export; inventory maintenance; vendor support and roadmap; and total cost.
Use a combination rather than selecting a single “complete” scanner. A tool may identify a TLS configuration accurately while missing cryptography inside firmware, a proprietary appliance, a managed cloud service, or a library selected at runtime.
Build the inventory in an ordered workflow
- Write the charter. Define scope, objectives, data classes, environments, owners, evidence standards, and how findings become migration work.
- Export the baseline. Gather asset, service, identity, endpoint, vulnerability, cloud, repository, and supplier records before running new scans.
- Run network and edge discovery. Start with externally reachable services and critical remote-access paths; preserve endpoint, protocol, certificate, and algorithm evidence.
- Inspect applications and platforms. Review installed packages, libraries, configuration, certificate stores, firmware, secure boot, update channels, and cryptographic modules.
- Scan development pipelines. Analyze source code, dependency manifests, build scripts, container images, and deployment definitions; link findings to released services.
- Collect supplier disclosures. Send a standard questionnaire covering embedded cryptography, algorithms, protocols, key management, certificates, hardware dependencies, PQC testing, upgrade plans, support dates, and expected costs.
- Normalize and reconcile. Merge duplicate assets, resolve conflicting algorithm or owner data, record confidence, and retain each evidence source and collection date.
- Map protected data and processes. Link each cryptographic use to sensitivity, retention, confidentiality lifetime, external exposure, and operational or safety impact.
- Assign priority and treatment. Choose migration, redesign, compensating control, supplier escalation, risk acceptance, or retirement. Record the decision owner and target state.
- Validate with service owners. Confirm dependencies, maintenance windows, interoperability constraints, performance limits, and rollback options before scheduling changes.
- Convert findings into roadmap work. Create projects for architecture, testing, certificate and protocol changes, hardware replacement, supplier upgrades, and decommissioning.
- Refresh after change. Update records when assets, software, configurations, suppliers, certificates, or risk decisions change; do not wait for a calendar date if a material change occurs.
Plan supplier and cloud follow-up
Procurement terms can determine whether a PQC migration is possible. Add cryptographic transparency and transition obligations to new contracts and renewals where practical.
- Request a product-level list of algorithms, protocols, libraries, certificates, key-management services, secure-boot components, and signed-update mechanisms.
- Ask which components are configurable, which are hard-coded, and which require hardware replacement.
- Request PQC testing timelines, product integration plans, upgrade commitments, supported versions, end-of-support dates, and expected customer costs.
- Ask how the supplier will handle hybrid or transitional configurations if standards, profiles, or interoperability requirements evolve.
- For cloud services, identify provider-managed cryptography separately from customer-controlled keys and application-level encryption.
- Require notification when a cryptographic library, certificate hierarchy, protocol default, or underlying hardware changes.
Record unanswered questions and the date of the supplier’s statement. A vendor roadmap is an input to prioritization, not proof that a future upgrade will meet your performance, safety, regulatory, or confidentiality requirements.
Handle OT, embedded, and legacy systems differently
Industrial control systems and embedded products often have long replacement cycles, limited processing capacity, proprietary protocols, and strict safety validation. Their cryptography may be hidden in firmware, bootloaders, field gateways, maintenance tools, or vendor update services.
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For industrial control systems
- Map cryptography to the physical process, safety function, engineering workstation, and remote-maintenance path.
- Record whether a change requires a plant outage, recertification, vendor technician, or safety review.
- Separate a temporary compensating control from a claim that the underlying algorithm has been replaced.
- Prioritize systems whose compromise could affect safety, critical infrastructure, or essential operations.
For embedded and legacy products
- Ask the manufacturer for a bill of cryptographic materials and a supported upgrade path.
- Capture processor, memory, firmware-signing, boot, and update constraints that could limit new algorithms or larger keys and signatures.
- Document unsupported or end-of-life status and the business process that depends on the product.
- Choose migration, isolation, replacement, or retirement with an explicit owner and review date.
Keep evidence, privacy, and access under control
An inventory can contain sensitive architecture, certificate relationships, supplier information, and details about high-value systems. Protect it as a security-management asset.
- Store references and metadata rather than private keys, recovery secrets, or plaintext protected data.
- Restrict editing and export rights, and log changes to priority, owner, evidence, and risk acceptance.
- Classify the inventory itself and apply retention rules appropriate to its operational and security value.
- Use immutable or versioned evidence where possible so an owner can reconstruct why a finding changed.
- Separate confirmed observations from assumptions, interviews, and supplier claims.
- Set a process for correcting false positives and documenting accepted blind spots.
Know the standards and document status accurately
NIST’s first three finalized PQC standards were released in 2024. That date establishes the availability of finalized standards; it does not establish a universal migration deadline for every organization or product.
NIST IR 8547, Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards, is identified on its publication page as an initial public draft. It was published on November 12, 2024; the comment period closed on January 10, 2025, and the page records a planning note dated January 21, 2025. Treat it as draft transition-planning material and verify its current status before quoting its recommendations or timelines.
NIST SP 1800-38B is a preliminary draft focused on cryptographic discovery. It describes a functional test plan, use case, multifaceted discovery approach, and high-level architecture that integrates contributed tools. The draft states that it is incomplete and expected to change, so use it to shape questions and testing rather than as a final prescriptive specification.
The joint CISA, NSA, and NIST fact sheet published on August 22, 2023, is useful for the practical case for inventorying and supplier engagement. Keep the publication date with internal records so later policy changes are not confused with the original guidance.
Common failure modes and fixes
| Failure | Why it happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Algorithm-only spreadsheet | No owner, protected data, dependency, or business impact is recorded | Require system, service, data, owner, exposure, lifetime, evidence, and migration-state fields |
| One scanner treated as authoritative | Network tools are easy to run and produce visible results | Combine network, endpoint, source-code, cloud, asset, and supplier evidence |
| Embedded cryptography missed | Products and firmware hide implementation details | Request supplier disclosures, inspect update paths, and track unknowns as explicit risks |
| Private keys copied into tracking systems | Teams confuse key metadata with key material | Store type, owner, algorithm, certificate, expiry, and lifecycle status only |
| Public-facing systems prioritized by default | Exposure is visible while confidentiality lifetime is not | Assess long-lived secrets, archives, backups, and harvest-now-decrypt-later exposure |
| OT handled like ordinary IT | Inventory teams overlook safety, outage, and certification constraints | Involve OT engineers, safety owners, and suppliers in discovery and scheduling |
| Supplier promises accepted without evidence | Roadmaps sound like migration plans | Request test results, supported versions, dates, dependencies, costs, and contractual commitments |
| Inventory becomes stale | It is published as a report rather than maintained as an operational record | Refresh on asset, software, certificate, supplier, or risk changes and preserve collection dates |
What a finished inventory should enable
At the end of the first cycle, leadership should be able to see which systems use quantum-vulnerable public-key cryptography, which data requires long-term confidentiality, which suppliers control the upgrade path, and which projects need early engineering or procurement work. Service owners should be able to trace a finding to a configuration, code path, certificate, device, or supplier statement. Risk managers should be able to explain why one migration precedes another.
The deliverable is therefore a maintained decision system: evidence-backed records, explicit uncertainty, named owners, prioritized treatment, and a roadmap that can change as products and standards evolve. Automated discovery provides necessary coverage, but supplier engagement and business context determine whether the inventory is actionable.
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