OpenSSL conference 2026 to focus on post-quantum security

OpenSSL will hold OpenSSL Conference 2026 in Prague, focusing on post-quantum internet security and related cryptography issues.

The event is intended to bring together developers, researchers, policymakers, legal experts, businesses and members of the open source community to discuss secure communications. The programme will cover post-quantum cryptography, software supply chain security, digital trust, regulatory developments and the long-term sustainability of critical open source infrastructure.

The conference centres on technology that underpins much of the modern internet. The OpenSSL Library is widely used in operating systems, cloud platforms, software products and connected devices to protect digital communications, making the project a significant part of the global cybersecurity stack.

Attention is likely to focus on the shift to post-quantum cryptography, which has risen up the agenda as organisations assess the risk that future quantum computers could weaken current encryption methods. That concern has prompted governments, standards bodies and technology suppliers to consider how systems should move to newer cryptographic approaches without disrupting existing services.

OpenSSL is positioning the conference as a venue for both technical and policy discussions, reflecting how internet security decisions often extend beyond software engineering teams. Regulatory change, procurement rules, compliance demands and concerns over software provenance are all shaping how companies and public bodies manage cryptographic tools.

Broad agenda

The programme is expected to include keynote presentations, technical sessions and panel discussions. Those sessions will examine how organisations can prepare for emerging threats while maintaining trusted cryptography in the digital services used by businesses and the public.

That focus highlights a broader issue for open source infrastructure projects. Many of the tools at the heart of online security are maintained by specialist communities rather than large commercial vendors, even though they are embedded in products and services used at vast scale.

In recent years, scrutiny of software supply chains has intensified after a series of cyber incidents exposed how weaknesses in widely shared components can ripple across sectors. For organisations using open source cryptographic libraries, this has raised questions not only about technical resilience, but also about governance, funding and long-term maintenance.

The event is intended to encourage discussion between technical experts and decision-makers, addressing the collaborative demands of securing internet infrastructure across industry, government and academia.

Critical infrastructure

Tim Hudson outlined the rationale for the meeting in a statement on the event.

"The technologies that secure the internet are largely invisible, yet they support billions of online interactions every day. OpenSSL Conference is an opportunity to bring together the people who develop, maintain and depend on this critical infrastructure. By sharing knowledge and experiences, we can strengthen the collaboration that has always been central to improving internet security," said Tim Hudson, President, OpenSSL Corporation.

The remark underscores OpenSSL's role in a part of the technology industry that often operates out of public view. Cryptographic libraries rarely attract broad attention unless there is a major vulnerability or a significant standards shift, yet they remain central to banking, healthcare, government services and cloud computing.

OpenSSL describes its conference as an established meeting point for the cybersecurity and open source communities. The event is designed as a forum for contributors, users and industry figures to exchange views on the direction of secure communications and the practical steps needed to support trust on the internet.

The post-quantum theme is particularly significant because the transition is expected to take years and involve a large installed base of legacy systems. Organisations must weigh performance, compatibility and risk management as they consider when and how to adopt new algorithms.

Those choices also have commercial implications. Businesses that depend on secure online transactions need confidence that the cryptographic components in their products and internal systems will remain reliable and compliant as standards evolve.

For open source projects such as OpenSSL, that means balancing community-led development with the expectations of large institutional users. It also puts a spotlight on whether the internet's foundational security tools have the support structure needed to keep pace with regulatory and technical change.

The conference agenda reflects that tension by combining specialist cryptography topics with broader discussions of trust, governance and sustainability in essential open source software.