Agentic AI-Driven Threats Post-Quantum Identity Resilience: Standards, Systems and Global Architectures

National digital identity systems today face two accelerating external pressures: the weaponisation of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) and the impending cryptographic obsolescence triggered by quantum-computing-capable adversaries. Building upon prior explorations of systemic risks in identity architectures and AI-orchestrated attack chains, this workshop pivots to the intersection of: autonomous AI attack orchestration, post-quantum cryptographic standardisation, and the governance and design of large-scale identity infrastructures (for example national digital-ID systems).

About the event

This workshop will examine three critical vectors:

1. Agentic AI as adversary, Using the recent disclosure by Anthropic of an AI-orchestrated cyber-espionage campaign (which reportedly executed 80-90 % of the attack lifecycle autonomously) as a case study.  We will assess how identity systems must defend not only against human-actor chains but tool-enabled, autonomous adversarial chains (reconnaissance, credential harvesting, lateral movement, exfiltration).

2. Post-quantum cryptography in identity systems, A comparison of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC standardisation process (e.g., CRYSTALS-Kyber, Dilithium, etc)  with the emerging standards efforts in China via National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee (TC260) and the Institute of Commercial Cryptography Standards (ICCS) (including China’s solicitations for quantum-resistant encryption algorithm submissions).  We will explore implications for identity platforms (national-wallets, federated ID, biometrics) where cryptographic agility and resilience must anticipate adversaries able to host quantum resources or exploit weak algorithms over time.

3. Global identity design & governance under dual stress-vectors, How do large-scale digital identity systems (e.g., national ID programmes, federated cross-border identity under eIDAS 2.0) adapt design architecture, governance, inclusion policy, and resilience strategies when both autonomous-AI attacks and quantum-era cryptographic threats are in scope? We will examine comparative national systems (including UK’s upcoming digital-ID architecture, China’s super-app identity layers such as WeChat-ID, alternative federated models such as MOSIP) with a lens on inclusion (NGO/World Bank/ID4D communities), vendor/technical experts (biometric/ID-provider domain) and national security agencies (e.g., National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA)).

This workshop will deliver:

• A refined comparative taxonomy of identity-system design patterns under “agentic-AI disruption + quantum-threat window”

• Attack-scenario and resilience-playbook templates specific to identity ecosystems (covering agentic-AI orchestration and quantum-era cryptographic compromise)

• Policy-technical design guidelines for inclusive, resilient national digital identity systems that meet the needs of NGOs working on inclusion/privacy, policy-makers in developing nations, biometric/ID vendors, and national security agencies.

  
  

This event is part of the Trustworthy Digital Identity project, a three-year research project collaboration bringing together expertise from SPRITE+ and the Alan Turing Institute.