The National Cyber Security Centre of the Kingdom of Bahrain and SandboxAQ announced a landmark partnership, aimed at establishing a nationwide cybersecurity modernisation framework. The partnership marks one of the world’s first large-scale commitments to transitioning towards a quantum-safe economy. As a founding member of the UNICC AI Hub on Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), SandboxAQ will support Bahrain in securing sovereign data, critical infrastructure and sensitive government and private-sector systems against rapidly evolving cyber, cryptographic, and quantum computing threats.
The announcement comes as governments worldwide prepare for “Q-Day”, the point when cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQCs) will be capable of breaking today’s widely used encryption. While experts now estimate CRQCs to be feasible by as early as 2029, the threat is already present through “harvest-now, decrypt-later” attacks, where adversaries steal encrypted data today with plans to decrypt it once quantum capabilities mature. For governments, this includes classified communications, diplomatic cables, defence data, national identity records and decades of sensitive archives.
Under this partnership, the Kingdom of Bahrain will deploy SandboxAQ’s AQtive Guard platform, an AI-powered cybersecurity solution designed to enable the safe, large-scale deployment of AI agents and modernise defenses for the post-quantum era. It provides complete visibility, assessment, and remediation of critical vulnerabilities stemming from weak encryption and the rapid proliferation of AI agents and non-human identities (NHIs). The deployment will span more than 60 distinct ministry environments across the Kingdom, requiring SandboxAQ’s platform to manage cryptographic security on a scale.
His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of Bahrain, commented: “This partnership with SandboxAQ marks a significant milestone in our mission to secure our sovereign data, intellectual property, and other digital assets from both internal and external cyber threats. SandboxAQ’s world-class technologies and expertise in AI-driven cybersecurity will help Bahrain protect its citizens, businesses, and government agencies and lay the foundation for a new era of security and economic growth in the Kingdom.”
Mohammed Aboul-Magd, Vice President of Product, Cybersecurity at SandboxAQ, added: “Bahrain is taking a bold and much-needed step by not only setting policy, but by operationalising the technology required to secure the Kingdom against rapidly advancing threats. Our partnership establishes a dynamic framework that allows the country to adapt quickly as new vulnerabilities emerge, ensuring the nation stays ahead of attackers in a world where cryptographic risks evolve by the day. We are honoured to support Shaikh Salman and the Government of Bahrain in implementing this forward-looking programme, which sets a new benchmark for cyber resilience across the region.”
This initiative forms a core pillar of Bahrain’s long-term cybersecurity strategy and reinforces the Kingdom’s commitment to safeguarding national data, promoting economic resilience and accelerating secure digital transformation.
Discussion about this post