## ZeroTier and Carahsoft Bring PQC Networking to US Government

ZeroTier and Carahsoft have announced a distribution partnership that makes ZeroTier's post-quantum secure networking platform — ZeroTier Quantum — available to US public sector organizations through Carahsoft's reseller network and the NASA SEWP V contract vehicle. The platform uses hybrid cryptography combining ML-KEM-1024 and ECDH P-384 to address "harvest now, decrypt later" threats, and is built to meet NIST and NSA CNSA 2.0 standards. It runs across public cloud, on-premises, edge, and air-gapped environments without requiring infrastructure replacement.

This is a procurement logistics story as much as a technology one. SEWP V is one of the most widely used federal IT contract vehicles; getting a post-quantum networking product onto that vehicle meaningfully lowers the barrier for civilian agencies and defense organizations to deploy it. ZeroTier CEO Andrew Gault and CCO Robert Stevenson both framed quantum-driven cryptographic risk as a present-day operational concern, not a future horizon problem — a framing consistent with White House guidance and NSA's CNSA 2.0 transition timeline.

The core technology question is whether hybrid PQC at the transport layer is the right architectural bet for government networks in 2026. The answer, by most federal security guidance, is yes — for now.

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## What ZeroTier Quantum Actually Does

ZeroTier Quantum is built on the ZeroTier Transport Protocol (ZTP), implemented in a memory-safe Rust architecture. The cryptographic layer combines ML-KEM-1024 — one of the NIST-standardized post-quantum key encapsulation mechanisms — with ECDH P-384, a classical elliptic-curve algorithm. This hybrid approach is the current best practice: if the post-quantum algorithm is eventually broken or has an undiscovered vulnerability, the classical component provides a fallback; if classical cryptography is broken by a cryptographically relevant quantum computer, the ML-KEM component provides protection.

The platform is designed to cover three distinct deployment scenarios that matter to federal buyers:

**Legacy infrastructure and High Value Assets (HVAs):** ZeroTier Quantum wraps existing infrastructure in a secure overlay, enabling immediate cryptographic modernization without replacing underlying systems. For agencies with decade-old networking gear that cannot be refreshed on short timelines, this is the practical path.

**Next-generation platforms:** Drones, sensors, and software-defined vehicles (SDVs) that rely on COMSEC can embed post-quantum resilience at the hardware level from initial deployment.

**Software applications:** Direct integration APIs allow development teams to add post-quantum cryptography to existing applications without full infrastructure overhauls.

The zero-trust architecture underpinning all three modes aligns with the federal zero-trust mandate, making ZeroTier Quantum's compliance story more coherent than a standalone PQC product would be.

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## The Carahsoft Distribution Angle

Carahsoft is one of the dominant IT distributors to the US federal government, with a reseller network that spans most major systems integrators and solution providers serving civilian and defense agencies. Landing on Carahsoft's roster — and specifically on SEWP V — is not a trivial commercial milestone for a software-defined networking company targeting government.

Mark Demerse, Carahsoft's Sales Director overseeing the ZeroTier team, described the partnership in terms of simplifying the procurement and deployment process for agencies already under pressure to demonstrate progress on post-quantum cryptography transitions. Federal compliance deadlines tied to NIST's post-quantum standards and NSA's CNSA 2.0 framework are creating real urgency across agency IT procurement teams.

The distribution arrangement does not tell us anything about contract values, pipeline size, or which specific agencies are engaged. That information is not in the source material, and reading commercial momentum into a distribution announcement is a common error. What the partnership does establish is that ZeroTier Quantum now has a credible procurement pathway into the federal market — a necessary but not sufficient condition for commercial traction.

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## Why the Timing Matters for the Broader PQC Market

The post-quantum cryptography market for government is moving from planning to procurement. NIST finalized its first set of post-quantum standards in 2024, and NSA's CNSA 2.0 suite established concrete algorithm requirements and transition timelines. Agencies are no longer asking whether to migrate — they are asking which vendors can deliver compliant solutions through established contract vehicles, on timelines that align with their compliance calendars.

This creates a structural advantage for any vendor that can combine technical compliance (ML-KEM, NIST/NSA alignment) with procurement accessibility (SEWP V, GSA schedules, existing integrator relationships). ZeroTier and Carahsoft are explicitly targeting that combination.

The broader competitive context includes companies like [SandboxAQ](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/sandboxaq), which has also been building government-facing post-quantum cryptography infrastructure, and [Arqit Quantum](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/arqit), which has pursued a different architectural approach to quantum-secure networking. Neither is a direct product substitute for what ZeroTier Quantum is offering — a software-defined, overlay-based PQC networking layer — but all three are competing for the same federal budget cycle attention.

The "harvest now, decrypt later" threat model — where adversaries collect encrypted government communications today to decrypt them once cryptographically relevant quantum computers exist — is the key driver of urgency here. Classified data with a decade-or-longer sensitivity window is already potentially compromised under this model if it was transmitted using classical asymmetric cryptography.

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## Skeptical Notes

A few things this announcement does not tell us:

- **Deployment scale:** There are no disclosed customer counts, agency names, or deployment sizes. The partnership creates access; it does not confirm demand.
- **Performance benchmarks:** ML-KEM-1024 is computationally heavier than classical key exchange. No latency or throughput figures are provided for ZeroTier Quantum in the source material, which matters for tactical edge and air-gapped deployments where bandwidth and processing are constrained.
- **Competitive differentiation:** The "memory-safe Rust architecture" and ZTP are presented as differentiators, but without independent benchmarks or third-party security audits cited in the source, these remain vendor claims.
- **Federal compliance specifics:** The announcement references NIST and CNSA 2.0 alignment but does not specify which FIPS validations or third-party certifications ZeroTier Quantum holds, which will matter to agencies with stringent security accreditation requirements.

These are not disqualifying gaps — they are normal for a distribution partnership announcement — but buyers doing due diligence should ask for this detail before committing procurement dollars.

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## Key Takeaways

- ZeroTier and Carahsoft announced a partnership making ZeroTier Quantum available to US public sector organizations via Carahsoft's reseller network and the SEWP V contract vehicle.
- ZeroTier Quantum uses hybrid ML-KEM-1024 and ECDH P-384 cryptography, meeting NIST and NSA CNSA 2.0 standards.
- The platform is built on the ZeroTier Transport Protocol in a memory-safe Rust architecture, covering cloud, on-premises, edge, and air-gapped environments.
- The product is designed to modernize cryptographic security without replacing existing infrastructure — a key requirement for legacy-heavy federal environments.
- SEWP V access is a meaningful procurement milestone, but no deployment figures, agency customers, or contract values are disclosed.
- Federal post-quantum cryptography deadlines are accelerating purchasing decisions across civilian and defense agencies, creating near-term market opportunity for compliant vendors with established procurement pathways.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**What is ZeroTier Quantum and how does it work?**
ZeroTier Quantum is a software-defined networking platform that embeds post-quantum cryptography directly into the transport layer. It uses a hybrid cryptographic scheme combining ML-KEM-1024 (a NIST-standardized post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism) and ECDH P-384 (classical elliptic-curve cryptography), implemented via the ZeroTier Transport Protocol in a Rust-based architecture. This allows it to function across cloud, on-premises, edge, and air-gapped environments.

**What is the SEWP V contract and why does it matter for government procurement?**
SEWP V (NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement, Version 5) is a government-wide acquisition contract that allows federal agencies to purchase IT products and services through pre-vetted vendors and resellers. Being available through SEWP V dramatically simplifies the acquisition process for agencies that want to deploy ZeroTier Quantum — they can procure it without running a full competitive solicitation from scratch.

**What is "harvest now, decrypt later" and why do federal agencies care about it?**
Harvest now, decrypt later refers to the strategy — attributed primarily to nation-state adversaries — of collecting encrypted government communications today, storing them, and decrypting them in the future once cryptographically relevant quantum computers become available. Data with long-term sensitivity is at risk even under current classical encryption if it was intercepted in transit. Post-quantum cryptography like ML-KEM-1024 is designed to be resistant to this class of attack.

**Does ZeroTier Quantum require agencies to replace existing network infrastructure?**
No. According to ZeroTier, the platform can function as a secure overlay on top of legacy infrastructure, encapsulating existing systems without requiring replacement. This is a stated design priority for High Value Assets and legacy platforms that cannot be refreshed on short timelines.

**How does this compare to other post-quantum networking offerings for government?**
The post-quantum networking market for government is developing rapidly, with multiple vendors pursuing different architectural approaches. ZeroTier Quantum's differentiator is its software-defined, infrastructure-agnostic overlay model combined with SEWP V availability. Other companies active in this space include SandboxAQ and Arqit Quantum, though their architectures and go-to-market approaches differ. Agencies should evaluate performance benchmarks, security certifications, and integration complexity — none of which are fully detailed in this announcement.