Cryptographic Agility
The designed-in ability to replace cryptographic primitives over a device's supported lifetime.
Definition
Cryptographic agility is the architectural property that lets a system replace its cryptographic primitives - algorithms, key sizes, protocol versions - without redesign. For medical devices fielded for 10–20 years, crypto agility is essential because algorithms (e.g., SHA-1, RSA-1024, TLS 1.0) become deprecated long before the device is retired. NIST's Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) program (FIPS 203/204/205, 2024) makes crypto agility newly urgent for any device whose data must remain confidential into the post-quantum era.What this means in practice
Achieving crypto agility means abstracting algorithms behind interfaces, supporting algorithm negotiation at every protocol layer, planning OTA updates that can deliver new crypto, and budgeting compute headroom for PQC algorithms (which have larger keys/signatures than ECC).- •Hardcoding cipher suites in firmware that cannot be updated.
- •Choosing a hardware crypto accelerator that cannot be augmented with PQC algorithms.
- •Treating crypto as 'set and forget' for a 15-year device lifetime.
Frequently asked questions
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Primary references
3 sources- 1
NIST Post-Quantum CryptographyVerifiedNISTcsrc.nist.gov
- 2
NIST IR 8547 PQC Migration GuidanceVerifiedNISTcsrc.nist.gov
- 3
FDA Cybersecurity Guidance (Sept 2023)VerifiedFDAfda.gov
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