Cybersecurity in 2025: From Necessity to Strategic Scale

While AI and quantum computing dominate headlines, one sector continues to grow with resilience and focus: cybersecurity.Unlike many frontier technologies, cybersecurity does not rely on hype. It is driven by necessity. In boardrooms, governments, and critical infrastructure, digital trust is no longer optional — it is the foundation of modern life.

Cybersecurity as the Infrastructure of Trust

Cybersecurity has become the backbone of the digital economy. It secures everything from online banking to smart grids and healthcare systems. At corporate boards worldwide, it ranks among the top priorities, and governments now recognize it as critical infrastructure.

The EU’s NIS2 Directive and the US SEC rules on breach disclosure are just two examples of sweeping regulations reshaping the space. Similar mandates in Asia, the Middle East, and beyond underline a simple truth: cybersecurity is a non-discretionary expense. Companies cannot afford to underinvest, no matter the economic climate.

A Market of Stability and Growth

Global cybersecurity spending is expected to reach $212 billion in 2025, nearly doubling again by 2030. Unlike cyclical sectors, security budgets grow steadily, powered by three forces:

• Non-discretionary spending – security is now normalized as the cost of doing business.

• Regulatory tailwinds – compliance obligations drive baseline investment.

• Persistent threats – new attack surfaces and adversaries ensure ongoing demand.

For investors, cybersecurity behaves like a “growth utility”: defensive, resilient, and with long-term upside.

Consolidation and Strategic Scale

The market is shifting from a fragmented patchwork of tools to integrated ecosystems. Enterprises are tired of juggling dozens of vendors. They want platform convergence: fewer tools, broader coverage, and tighter integration.

This has triggered a wave of strategic M&A:

• Cisco’s $28B acquisition of Splunk signaled the move toward analytics-driven, AI-augmented security.

• Thoma Bravo rolled up identity leaders like Ping Identity and SailPoint into a unified IAM ecosystem.

• Microsoft, Google, and Broadcom continue to buy specialized players to expand their dominance.

For founders and investors, the message is clear: opportunities lie not in “yet another firewall,” but in solving complexity through integration, interoperability, and intelligence.

Where We See the Future

At Behind Investments, we pay close attention to areas where technical complexity meets market urgency:

• AI-native security – autonomous detection, LLM protection, and AI governance.

• Operational technology (OT) security – protecting energy, manufacturing, and telecom infrastructure.

• Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) – quantum-safe encryption, soon to be a mandate.

• Identity and access management (IAM) – the cornerstone of zero-trust strategies.

These are not niche segments — they are foundational categories where customer urgency is high, pricing power is defensible, and exit scenarios are clear.

Why It Matters to Us

Cybersecurity is not just another theme in our investment strategy. It is a lens through which we evaluate the digital economy, dual-use innovation, and technological sovereignty. AI agents, quantum processors, drones, and smart infrastructure all depend on trust — and trust depends on security.

At Behind Investments, our role is to back teams building essential systems for an uncertain world. Cybersecurity isn’t about preventing attacks. It’s about enabling innovation to happen safely.