As quantum computing advances toward what researchers call Q Day, a new form of cyber risk is already affecting life insurance claims.
It is known as Store Now, Decrypt Later, or SNDL.
Cybercriminals are stealing encrypted medical and health data today, not because they can read it now, but because they expect future quantum computing power to break current encryption standards. Once decrypted, that data does not disappear. It resurfaces years later, often in places the policyholder never anticipated.
Life insurance companies are beginning to use this leaked data to deny claims.
What Is a Store Now, Decrypt Later Attack
Traditional encryption protects sensitive medical records by making them unreadable without a key. Quantum computing threatens to undermine many of those protections.
In an SNDL attack, hackers:
Steal encrypted health data today
Store it indefinitely
Decrypt it later using advanced quantum methods
Release or sell the data once it becomes readable
The data may be accurate, partially accurate, outdated, or completely context free. But insurers may still treat it as reliable evidence.
How Insurers Use Leaked Data to Deny Claims
In high value life insurance claims, insurers conduct aggressive post claim investigations. When leaked medical data appears, insurers may argue that it reveals undisclosed conditions or misstatements on the original application.
Common denial arguments include:
Claiming leaked records show early symptoms never disclosed
Treating stolen data as equivalent to official medical records
Ignoring how or when the data was obtained
Using incomplete or altered files to infer knowledge
Arguing that encryption failure is irrelevant to admissibility
From the insurer’s perspective, the source of the data matters less than its potential usefulness in avoiding a payout.
Why This Is a Serious Legal Problem
Life insurance policies do not require applicants to disclose information they do not have and could not access.
Stolen data raises fundamental questions:
Was the data lawfully obtained
Was it accurate at the time of application
Did the insured ever see or know about it
Has the data been altered or misinterpreted
Does reliance on hacked data violate public policy
Insurers often gloss over these issues and focus on selective excerpts that support denial.
Quantum Computing Changes the Privacy Landscape
Most people reasonably believe that encrypted medical data is safe. SNDL attacks exploit that trust retroactively.
A policyholder who answered application questions truthfully based on their knowledge should not lose coverage years later because criminals broke encryption that was considered secure at the time.
Life insurance underwriting is not supposed to be a moving target based on future technological breakthroughs.
Defending Claims Against Quantum Era Denials
When insurers rely on leaked or decrypted data, the defense shifts from medicine to process, privacy, and fairness.
Key challenges may include:
Contesting the authenticity and completeness of the data
Challenging the legality of its acquisition
Demonstrating lack of knowledge or access by the insured
Exposing insurer reliance on stolen information
Arguing bad faith use of compromised data
High net worth policies are especially vulnerable because the incentive to deny is greater and investigations are deeper.
Why High Value Claims Are at Risk
Large policies justify expensive investigations. Insurers may retain cyber vendors, data brokers, and forensic analysts to locate any information that could support denial.
Quantum era breaches dramatically expand the pool of exploitable data. What was once considered secure becomes a denial tool years later.
Families are often blindsided by records they never knew existed.
The Bottom Line
Quantum computing is reshaping cybersecurity. It should not rewrite life insurance contracts after the fact.
A life insurance claim should not be denied based on hacked medical data that was encrypted, stolen, and later decrypted without the insured’s knowledge or consent. When insurers rely on compromised data to avoid paying benefits, the issue is not technology. It is fairness and accountability.
As quantum era risks grow, so will attempts to use leaked data against grieving families. These denials deserve serious legal scrutiny.