CyberRidge Demonstrates How a Simple Clip-On Coupler Can Silently Harvest 100% of "Secure" Network Traffic
September 1, 2026: CyberRidge, the pioneer of harvest-proof encryption, today released a demonstration showing how a clip-on optical coupler, available online for a few hundred dollars, can silently capture the entirety of a fiber-optic data stream, without being detected.
In the demonstration, a CyberRidge engineer clips the coupler onto a standard fiber cable carrying live traffic between two endpoints. No fiber is cut. No alarms trigger. The coupler simply propagates out a fraction of the light, enough to extract every bit of the digitally encrypted data stream. The sender and receiver are shown exchanging data as expected - nothing is degraded and nothing goes missing. The sender and receiver see an ordinary, uninterrupted exchange. However, the attacker holds an identical real-time copy of the data packet.
“This demo defies a pervasive industry-wide misperception that as long as data-in-transit is encrypted, it’s safe," said Prof. Dan Sadot, Founder and CEO of CyberRidge. "In reality, data-in-transit can be easily compromised. The bar for exfiltrating data is almost nothing. Anyone with basic technical skills and a device that costs less than a dinner out can physically tap a live fiber link and exfiltrate 100% of your traffic. And you would never know."
The captured traffic is still encrypted ciphertext. But this is precisely the danger known as HNDL - Harvest Now Decrypt Later - the window between when an adversary records encrypted data and when that data becomes decrypted, either by a stolen or leaked key or a cryptographically relevant quantum computer. Gartner puts the availability of such a computer at a 75% chance of arriving by 2030. Meaning, data harvested today is effectively compromised, and to be decoded tomorrow.
The coupler demonstration illustrates a broader gap between advanced post-quantum security algorithms and photonic-layer security
CyberRidge's Carmel platform is built to close this gap at its source. Rather than strengthening the encrypted algorithm, Carmel removes the recordable signal entirely. This transforms data-in-transit into physical optical noise at Layer 1, so even in a clip-on coupler attack, there is nothing coherent to capture, store, or eventually decrypt. Deployed as a drop-in replacement for existing line cards, there is zero added latency or link length limits, making it a suitable solution for wide infrastructure networks already carrying live traffic.
About CyberRidge
About CyberRidge
Building resilience against future quantum computing and AI advances, CyberRidge is a deep-tech company delivering a post-quantum, harvest-proof solution for securing data-in-transit. Founded in 2022, it leverages patented photonic layer security (PLS) technology through its flagship Carmel platform.
Operating at the physical optical layer, it manipulates light to make data in transit physically unrecordable using physics complementary to encryption algorithms; interception and recording become impossible. Designed as a plug-and-play solution for rapid deployment, it integrates seamlessly into existing DWDM infrastructures with zero added latency. Co-funded by the European Innovation Council, the Carmel ensures mission-grade protection against harvest-now-decrypt-later threats.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project number: 101218274
Media Contact:
Guy Berlyne
Director of Business Development
guy.berlyne@cyber-ridge.com