CyberRidge and Menhir Photonics have formed a partnership that brings ultrafast femtosecond laser technology into a new domain: securing data-in-transit at the physical layer.
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While Menhir’s lasers are already trusted in scientific, industrial and quantum systems, this collaboration applies their technology in a novel way – protecting high-speed communication networks against Harvest-Now-Decrypt-Later (HNDL) attacks and the future quantum threat.

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_{From Ultrafast Lasers to Ultrahigh Security}

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CyberRidge’s Photonic Layer Security (PLS) technology is based on a three-stage, all-optical process designed to make optical data impossible to record:
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• Spectral spreading – expanding the optical signal across ultra-wide (multi-THz) bandwidth
• Optical phase manipulation – applying a continuously evolving photonic key
• Noise loading – burying the signal below the noise floor
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Menhir’s lasers fit perfectly with CyberRidge: they yield ultrashort pulses with exceptional coherence across an extremely wide spectrum. This precision is not just beneficial – it is essential. It ensures that the receiver can accurately synchronize and recover the signal, while the optical phase key ensures that any intercepted light remains incoherent, meaningless and unrecoverable.

This represents a new role for femtosecond laser technology – enabling photonic layer security (PLS) for data protection, in addition to measurement and precise RF signal generation applications

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Creating a Capability Found Nowhere Else

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CyberRidge’s PLS technology creates a capability not found in any other communication or security system: a photonic-layer protection mechanism that prevents attackers from recording the optical signal at all. With no recordable signal, there is no raw material to analyze – not today, and not in a quantum future.

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This eliminates the basis of HNDL attacks and delivers a true post-quantum solution, without requiring any changes to existing infrastructure.

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Why the Partnership Works

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CyberRidge and Menhir Photonics share an academic foundation, grounded in research cultures that value precision, rigorous and multi-disciplinary engineering. Beyond that foundation, we believe the real strength of the partnership comes from the people – teams shaped by PhD-level experience and an original way of thinking.

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That combination makes collaboration natural and productive, supported by a strong technological synergy between our solutions.

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Looking Ahead

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Both companies share a long-term vision for using advanced photonics to secure the future of global communication networks. Together, we are demonstrating how photonics can redefine data-in-transit protection at the physical layer and provide a true post-quantum solution that safeguards the next generation of optical communication.

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