Why cybersecurity matters if you want to build in tech

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This week we’re quoting…

Jorge Sebastiao (Co-Founder, Eco X, CBO Simba Storage)

What Sebastiao said:

“Blockchain is the operating system of trust. By building trust into the system you put together, you can rely on the data that is being generated.” 

Look up, then look deeper 

Sebastiao was speaking about smart cities and blockchain at LEAP, but the idea of building trust into a tech system applies across the industry. 

Have you ever stepped inside a mosque and looked up? The domes sometimes look like they’re floating, impossibly weightless. They’re not magic though; they’re maths and balance, with hidden architecture that does the lifting. 

Tech works the same way. To the user, new tools feel magical (or at least, the really good ones do). But none of it holds up without invisible engineering. And cybersecurity is one of the most important (and most ignored) layers of that engineering.

You can’t always see it. But without it, everything collapses. 

Trust is the most valuable currency in tech

If you’re an early-career professional, a startup founder, or a developer building your first product – ask yourself: why would anyone use what you’ve built?

The answer comes down to whether or not they trust you. 

They trust that your app won’t leak their data. They trust that their payment will go through. They trust that your software won’t break when they need it most.

But trust is fragile. And you have to keep earning it, over and over again. Malwarebytes’ 2025 research on mobile scams found that nearly half of users are confronted with scams every day; and most admit they can’t always tell what’s real.

Once someone gets burned by a scam, their trust in digital systems (all of them, not just yours) starts to erode. That means your success is tied not just to what you build, but to how safe people feel in digital spaces.

Security isn’t the fun police 

Lots of new founders worry that security will slow them down. They want to move fast, launch now, and add security later. But doing so is almost always a mistake; and if you do it right, security can drive sustainable and safe growth. 

A 2025 global cybersecurity leadership insights study by EY found that when security is embedded early in a project, it adds a median of USD $36 million in value per initiative. That’s because secure systems waste less money on fixes, experience less downtime, and inspire more confidence in customers.

So we need to think of cybersecurity as part of any strong architecture. It lets you climb higher without collapsing. 

The paradox of trust 

Trust is both emotional and structural. 

• Emotional: Users need to feel safe enough to transact and share.
• Structural: That feeling only lasts if the hidden scaffolding of security is solid.

If you only focus on feelings, your product becomes hollow. But if you only focus on engineering, then you won’t win hearts. You need both if you want to succeed – trust that’s engineered into the system, but is also experienced clearly by the people using it.

What this means for your career in tech

Maybe you want to launch a startup, design UX, or climb the ladder in a tech giant. Whatever the goal, you need to think about trust like an architect thinks about balance.

• Learn the basics of cybersecurity. You don’t need to become a pen tester, but you do need to know what phishing looks like, why multi-factor authentication matters, and how design choices can make users safer (or not).
• Bring security in early. Don’t bolt it on at the end. Invite security specialists into your brainstorms and sprints.
• Tell better stories. The best builders explain why security matters to investors, colleagues, and customers – in a way they can relate to. 

Building domes, building futures 

If you want to build a product, a business, or a career that lasts, you need to think like the architects of the domes that appear to float in the sky. You can definitely design for beauty – but design for strength first. 

Think about trust from the very beginning. And build accordingly. Because when trust is built right, it can stand for generations.

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Catch you next week,
The LEAP Team