CyberChampions

When a company names itself "Data Stealth," you expect something bold, maybe even radical. For Ed Leavens, co-founder and CEO, the name speaks not to flash but to absence, to the ingenious act of removing sensitive data before it can even be stolen. It’s a philosophy that sits at the core of a platform reshaping how enterprise clients view data protection.

“We built a little tool for ourselves that would insulate our IT environment from payment card theft,” Leavens recalls. It was a necessity, not a grand ambition, a way to keep pace with PCI compliance demands in a company dealing with tens of thousands of transactions. The early tool worked by stripping out card data before it ever hit their internal systems, replacing it with tokenized stand-ins. “If we were to get breached, there’d be nothing to steal.” It was that counterintuitive logic — no data, no theft — that gave birth to the name Data Stealth. “The data because you couldn't steal it because it wasn't there was kind of stealth. Hence the name Data Stealth.”

Today, the Toronto-based company is rapidly growing, nearing 70 employees, and steadily becoming one of Canada’s most quietly powerful players in the cybersecurity platform space. But the road from payment card security to becoming a scalable data privacy and security solution for Fortune 1000 clients wasn’t a straight one.

A Pivotal Shift: From Payments to Privacy at Scale

“We thought we’d invented the wheel,” says Leavens of the original product, designed purely to protect payment card data. But everything changed during a meeting with a VP of IT at a major Ontario hospital. “We walked in thinking we’d save the day by securing payment transactions for things like phone or television rentals.” The VP didn’t even let them finish. “I couldn’t care less about payment cards,” he said. “But if you guys could secure healthcare information, then I would be really interested in talking to you.” That moment was a wake-up call. “We realized that his problem was healthcare information. And if I expand that out, the problem that everybody has is there's something in their environment that if it were to get out might just put them on the front page of the newspaper.”  It was a realization that Data Stealth wasn’t in the payment card business. It was in the data protection business — and the potential scope was enormous.

The company pivoted from a niche security solution to developing a broader data security platform. “We had stumbled onto something a whole lot bigger than what we had actually envisioned in the first place,” says Leavens.

A Platform of Building Blocks

Instead of building a one-trick tool, Data Stealth created a flexible, modular architecture. “We have a data security platform that is analogous to having a box full of Lego blocks or building blocks,” explains Leavens. Each block is a component — masking, tokenization, de-identification, discovery — and clients can build exactly what they need, when they need it. This approach allows Data Stealth to quickly address shifting enterprise priorities — from compliance in healthcare to privacy in banking to protection of IP in manufacturing. “The ability to adapt to changing needs and build either modified or brand new solutions to solve problems that may not have been anything anybody was talking about the year before — that’s what we built.”

Not Another "Shiny Toy"

Leavens is quick to distance Data Stealth from the hype cycles that often dominate the cybersecurity world — especially when it comes to artificial intelligence. “We're not an AI company. We're not going to be data stealth.ai. We're not going to put AI forward,” he says. While the platform does use AI in specific contexts — like identifying elements in unstructured data fields — it’s a supporting actor, not the star. “The power of AI is off the charts, but I think it's more of a threat than a help when it comes to this world of cybersecurity right now. It can look and feel and act very much like people — when it’s not.” Instead, Leavens believes organizations are growing weary of “better mousetraps” and buzzwords. What they really want are outcomes. “If we were to acquire another company, we’d be looking for actual outcomes. Not fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Not shiny new toys. But something that solves a problem that organizations have today.”

The Great Cybersecurity Myth

Ask Leavens what the most dangerous cybersecurity myth is, and his answer comes without hesitation: perimeter protection. “For years we’ve been building strong walls, thinking it’ll hold your sensitive data and your crown jewels inside. But attackers are poking holes in those walls every day, and it’s naive to think that won’t hurt you.” It’s a belief rooted in an earlier era — one before SaaS, APIs, cloud, and sprawling third-party ecosystems. “The myth that perimeter protection is actually going to save you today is probably the biggest myth I can think of.”

Advice for Future Cyber Champions

For those trying to break into the field, Leavens offers simple but often  overlooked advice: just get started.“ Get your foot in the door however you can, wherever you can, and start building a career from that point forward.” He doesn’t put much stock in degrees alone. “We don’t look for diplomas. We look for a different set of skills — for people who can solve problems and think creatively.” He also advises against rigid expectations. “Your first role may not be sexy. The pay might not be what you want. But what you’re gaining is experience, and that’s the real currency in this field.”

Looking Ahead

With an adaptable platform, a clear philosophy, and growing interest from enterprises and partners alike, Data Stealth is poised for significant growth.

“We’re growing pretty quickly. And we’re always open to talking to people — whether that’s prospective employees, customers, vendors, or potential partners.” Their mission? Not to chase trends — but to make data invisible to bad actors and irrelevant to hackers. And if that means there's "nothing to steal" in the event of a breach, then the system is working exactly as intended.

Ed Leavens is the CEO of DataStealth. You can find more information about Ed and the company here.