Certes

Certes provides cryptographic segmentation and encryption of data-in-motion through a patented Layer 4 technology it calls CryptoFlow. Rather than requiring a full network redesign or relying on tunneling protocols tied to specific network topology, CryptoFlow overlays encryption and access policy directly onto existing infrastructure, using enforcement points (physical or virtual appliances) managed through a central console. That network-and-topology-agnostic approach was designed to make it practical to segment and encrypt traffic across legacy, hybrid, and OT environments where a ground-up zero-trust re-architecture isn’t realistic.

The company has operated continuously since 2000, originally as CipherOptics, renaming to Certes Networks in 2011 and simplifying to Certes in 2024. It’s headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and sells into government and enterprise accounts partly through channel partners such as Carahsoft, giving it a real, if modest, footprint in compliance-driven network security — PCI segmentation, OT network protection, and similar use cases where cryptographic isolation of specific data flows matters more than a full SASE deployment.

Over two decades of continuous operation without major recent funding, acquisition, or product-category news suggests a stable but low-growth business rather than one riding current network security trends like SASE and zero-trust network access, where the market’s visible energy and investment has moved. Certes remains a reasonable, narrowly-scoped option for organizations that specifically need cryptographic segmentation of legacy or mixed-topology networks, rather than a broad zero-trust platform play.