Inspiration
What it does
Quantum Readiness Scanner checks whether a website protects its visitors against "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks. Attackers can record encrypted traffic today and decrypt it once quantum computers are powerful enough. You enter a domain, or up to 10 domains in a batch. The scanner probes the site over TLS and reports whether it negotiates hybrid post-quantum key exchange (X25519MLKEM768). It then explains the result in plain English: Ready, Vulnerable, or Error. It also tells you what to ask your hosting provider. It is aimed at small nonprofits, clinics and local shops that depend on their hosts and cannot afford security consultants.
How we built it
We built a basic backend prototype for now. It is a FastAPI service that validates the domain and runs openssl s_client -groups X25519MLKEM768:X25519 against port 443. It parses the output into a status, a TLS version and a key exchange group. The frontend is a React and Vite app served through nginx. Docker pins a Debian trixie image because it ships OpenSSL 3.5, the first version that supports X25519MLKEM768.
Challenges we ran into
We had to handle the tight requirement for OpenSSL 3.5+, since standard stable OS packages do not ship with support for X25519MLKEM768 natively yet.
Parsing the raw openssl s_client output reliably across different server responses and CDN configurations also required tuning our regular expressions to target the exact negotiated TLS 1.3 group line rather than false positives.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We successfully built a working prototype that performs active TLS handshakes rather than relying on passive header analysis.
What we learned
We gained a deep, practical understanding of post-quantum hybrid cryptography, specifically how lattice-based algorithms like ML-KEM-768 integrate with classical curves like X25519.
We also learned firsthand how quickly modern CDNs and edge networks are beginning to adopt hybrid PQC, contrasted with the slower modernization cycles of local public-sector infrastructure.
What's next for Quantum Readiness Scanner
We plan to fully wire up the FastAPI backend to a web dashboard interface to make batch scanning effortless for small municipal teams and local nonprofits. We also want to expand automated remediation guidance, offering step-by-step upgrade playbooks for administrators managing vulnerable legacy systems.
