Published November 25, 2025

‍

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.
‍

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.

‍

‍

‍

_{From Ultrafast Lasers to Ultrahigh Security}

‍

‍

CyberRidge’s Photonic Layer Security (PLS) technology is based on a three-stage, all-optical process designed to make optical data impossible to record:
‍

• 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
  ‍

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

‍

‍

Creating a Capability Found Nowhere Else

‍

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.

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

‍

‍

Why the Partnership Works

‍

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.

‍

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

‍

‍

Looking Ahead

‍

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.

‍