QuSecure appoints ex-Navy admiral to advisory board

QuSecure has appointed retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Doug Small to its Federal Advisory Board as federal agencies shift toward post-quantum cryptography migration.

Small most recently served as commander of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, or NAVWAR, where he oversaw an annual budget of USD $6 billion and a workforce of 11,000. During more than 35 years in the U.S. Navy, he held senior roles across information warfare, weapons systems, and defence technology programmes.

His appointment brings a former senior Navy technology leader into a company that works with U.S. government agencies on cryptographic security. QuSecure's Federal Advisory Board includes former senior military, intelligence, and government officials who advise its work with federal customers.

The hire comes amid a broader push in Washington to move from planning to implementation on post-quantum cryptography, or PQC. The issue has grown more urgent as governments and companies assess the risk that future quantum computers could break or weaken widely used encryption methods that protect communications, stored data, and command systems.

Recent U.S. policy measures have added to that pressure. The Department of War has published a post-quantum cryptography strategy calling for a department-wide move to secure communications, data, and command-and-control systems against quantum-related threats, while Executive Order 14409 has added momentum to the wider federal effort.

Military background

Before leading NAVWAR, Small served as program executive officer for Integrated Warfare Systems, where he was responsible for the development, delivery, and sustainment of the U.S. Navy's surface sensor, combat, and weapons systems. According to QuSecure, that work included partnerships across military branches that produced virtualised combat systems and integrated missile launch platforms.

From 2020 to 2024, he was the first direct reporting program manager for Project Overmatch, a priority Navy programme intended to update the service's operational architecture across domains. He also chaired NATO and bilateral cooperative programmes and worked on strategies aimed at aligning defence efforts among allied countries.

Small holds a PhD in Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Marquette University. That academic background, combined with operational and procurement experience, is likely to be relevant as federal departments weigh technical, budget, and procurement choices in the shift to new cryptographic standards.

QuSecure operates in a market drawing growing interest from defence, finance, and critical infrastructure organisations. Companies in the sector are positioning themselves for a long transition from current encryption systems to alternatives designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers, while also managing the reality that many large organisations run a mix of legacy and newer systems.

Industry response

Agencies are now facing a critical stage in meeting federal post-quantum security requirements, the company said. Vendors with close ties to defence and intelligence communities may gain an advantage as departments seek advisers familiar with military procurement, operational resilience, and the constraints of modernising sensitive systems.

Brian Cunningham, executive vice president of strategy and growth at QuSecure, described Small's role in those terms.

"Doug is an executive leader with a proven track record of driving large-scale innovation and disruptive acquisition strategies within the Department of Defence," Cunningham said. "He has deep expertise in high-tech systems development and production, cybersecurity leadership, and helping federal agencies navigate the national security landscape. He will be a tremendous resource as we meet growing demand from agencies looking to meet post-quantum requirements and cryptographic agility with operational continuity."

The reference to operational continuity points to one of the central challenges in post-quantum migration. Government and defence agencies cannot simply replace cryptographic systems in a single step because encryption is embedded across networks, applications, communications equipment, and weapons-related systems. That creates a need for staged rollouts and compatibility with existing infrastructure.

QuSecure says its products are designed to help organisations manage cryptographic inventories, set policy, and deploy updated cryptography across networks. According to the company, its customer base includes U.S. defence agencies, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure providers.

Small framed the security challenge in strategic terms.

"Our competitors are unrelenting in their efforts to acquire our secrets, and they're becoming armed with AI-enabled tools and soon quantum computing," Small said. "It is more important than ever that we bring real agility and post-quantum security for our nation's information protection."