Beyond the Balance Sheet: Security's True ROI is Trust, the Currency of the Digital Age
For years, security teams have waged a two-front war: one against real cyber threats, and another within their own companies - fighting the entrenched perception that security is a mere line item, a necessary evil on the balance sheet. The battle against budget constraints and leadership skepticism isn't new, but the stakes are higher than ever. When security is relegated to a cost center, it's starved of the resources needed to truly protect the organization.
The Cost Center Conundrum: A Disconnect at the Top
The disconnect isn’t just about budget constraints - it’s about priorities. Business leaders focus on growth, security focuses on resilience, and these goals don’t always align. Security investments get scrutinized in a way that sales or product budgets rarely do. Why? Because security is seen as a function that doesn’t generate revenue, only expense.
The friction runs deeper when you add development teams to the mix. R&D prioritizes feature delivery, business dictates to R&D its not-always-favorable delivery speed, while security is often treated as a roadblock, something that slows innovation. Developers want flexibility, leadership wants efficiency, and security teams are left fighting to justify controls that nobody appreciates until something goes wrong.
This misalignment isn’t just theoretical. It plays out in real budget wars: Who owns the cost of fixing vulnerabilities—R&D? Security? The never-ending debate leads to security being bolted on last-minute, rather than built into the process from the start. Companies only rush to take security seriously when a customer demands proof of remediation, or worse, after a breach. By then, it’s a reaction, not an investment.
The ROI of Trust: An Intangible Asset, the Currency of the Digital Age
The real return on security investment lies not in spreadsheets, but in the intangible yet invaluable currency of trust.
Customer Trust:
In a data-driven world, customers demand assurance. They're entrusting their sensitive information to businesses, and any lapse in security can have devastating consequences. Take, for example, the 23andMe breach. In 2023, nearly 7 million users had their sensitive genetic and personal data exposed, information that later surfaced on hacking forums, grouped by ethnicity. The company’s reputation suffered a severe blow, and by early 2025, it had filed for bankruptcy. This wasn't just a technical failure, it was a complete collapse of trust.
And 23andMe wasn’t alone. AT&T also faced massive fallout after millions of customer records were compromised, further proving that security failures don’t just damage systems - they unravel customer confidence.
Conversely, companies like Apple, with their strong emphasis on user privacy and security, build lasting customer loyalty. They consistently demonstrate a commitment to protecting user data, which fosters trust and strengthens their brand.
And if you're a security vendor, the stakes are even higher. Your entire existence hinges on protecting your customers' digital assets. Trust, in this context, goes far beyond a marketing slogan; it's the very bedrock of your business. But do security vendors always live up to this responsibility? Any perceived weakness in your security posture can erode credibility and lead to customer attrition. Security vendors need more than technical expertise. They need transparency, accountability, and proactive threat mitigation. But too often, they fall into the same traps: siloed teams, security-as-an-afterthought in R&D, and a reactive mindset. Building and maintaining this trust is an ongoing process, requiring continuous investment in research, development, and customer communication. And crucially, does their R&D truly prioritize building fundamentally secure products, or are security features still treated as late-stage add-ons rather than integral to the product from the start?
Investor Trust:
Today's investors don’t just look at growth metrics—they view cyber risk as a critical factor in long-term viability and are asking hard questions about security posture. It has become a key factor in funding rounds, IPO prep, and M&A due diligence. A weak security foundation can delay or even kill a deal.
Yet in practice, many companies wait too long to address this. Security only becomes a focus when it starts to block deals or raise red flags, and by then it’s a scramble to retroactively prove maturity. The “shift left” mindset may be catching on in theory, but it hasn’t meaningfully reshaped how most organizations operate.
Strong security culture signals discipline and foresight. It shows investors that leadership is thinking long-term, not just reacting. And that’s exactly the kind of resilience they’re betting on.
Third-Party Trust:
In today’s interconnected business environment, your security posture is only as strong as the weakest link in your supply chain. It only takes one vulnerable third party to open the door for everyone else to get hit.
The SolarWinds breach showed just how far that ripple can go — what started as a single compromise affected government agencies and major corporations around the world. And then came MOVEit in 2023, where dozens of organizations were exposed simply for using trusted software that turned out to be exploitable.
Customers don’t care whose system was breached. They just see another failure, and your name attached to it.
Despite this, third-party risk assessments are still often treated as box-checking exercises. We’ve embraced zero trust internally. Now we need to extend that same level of scrutiny and verification to our partners and suppliers, because trust in your supply chain isn’t just about compliance — it’s about survival.
Breaches may not be entirely inevitable, but risk is. The companies that win are the ones who expect impact and prepare to respond fast, minimize damage, and protect trust while doing it.
Security as a Strategic Advantage: Beyond Cost Avoidance
Security isn’t just a way to reduce risk — it’s also a powerful lever for unlocking business value. Security, when woven into the fabric of an organization, transcends cost avoidance. It becomes a strategic enabler, unlocking opportunities and driving growth.
From the outside looking in, these are some of the most visible signals of strong security posture:
- Accelerated Procurement: Customers are more likely to engage with businesses that prioritize security. For example, in regulated industries like healthcare or finance, a robust security posture can significantly shorten procurement cycles.
- Streamlined Compliance: Proactive security simplifies regulatory approvals, reducing time and costs. Companies that embed security into their development lifecycle, rather than treating compliance as an afterthought, gain a competitive edge.
- Enhanced Brand Resilience: A reputation for security strengthens brand loyalty and mitigates the impact of potential crises. Companies that are transparent about their security practices and demonstrate a commitment to data protection build stronger brands.
Bridging the Communication Breach: Making the Case for Security's Real Value
Security teams don’t just struggle with attackers, they struggle with being understood. The CISO debates, the shifting job descriptions, the arguments over whether security is a business enabler or a technical function — it all stems from the same issue: a gap in language, priorities, and expectations between security and the rest of the business.
This isn’t just about getting more budget. It’s about redefining how we talk about value. What resonates in the boardroom isn’t alerts per second or controls deployed—it’s risk avoided, deals won, customer trust preserved, and reputational damage dodged.
Security leaders must translate their impact into terms the business understands. Not just “we stopped X,” but “we kept the customer experience intact,” “we protected uptime,” or “we kept that procurement cycle short by having the right controls already in place.”
The clearest way to show the value of security is to flip the question: what do you lose when it fails? Revenue stalls. Customers leave. Deals die in procurement. Reputations fracture. That’s the real cost — and that’s the ROI you're protecting every day.
Security teams must shift the conversation from cost to value, from prevention to enablement. The goal is not merely to avert breaches, but to cultivate trust that empowers the organization to thrive.
Unfortunately, leadership often grasps the full weight of that only after a costly breach. That’s when, for a brief window, the wallets open. Ironically, just as the CISO's career is on the line, the IT and Security teams suddenly get everything they’ve asked for. Wouldn't it be far wiser to invest in security as a strategic asset before the damage is done?
But reactionary spending is the most expensive kind. Scrambling to fix security gaps under pressure leads to rushed implementations, inflated costs, and solutions that don’t address the root cause.
The companies that get this right don’t wait for a crisis. They treat security as a strategic asset - not just early, but smartly and efficiently. It becomes part of the business model, driving resilience, customer confidence, and long-term value.
Security will always cost something. The real choice is whether you invest on your own terms, or after an incident forces your hand.
