Kara Coppa is the COO & Co-Founder of BL∆KFX. As a 20 year cyber security veteran, she has been providing sophisticated cyber security solutions, patents and products that provide a wide variety of services to protect data, lives, property and empower people and organizations. She has secured the world’s most critical communications as co-founder of Wickr, Inc. and is currently on a mission with BL∆KFX to empower organizations with the most advanced and easy to use data protection software to help put an end to the data theft global pandemic. Kara’s professional experience spans the areas of data security, information security governance, threat detection/mitigation, risk assessments, incident response and investigations. She has been a hands-on security expert for various industries including the United States military, telecom and financial services. Kara has been featured as a security expert on Live TV, Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” and was a panel speaker at a live streamed Bloomberg conference, “Sooner Than You Think” where she participated on a panel and discussed the biggest cybersecurity threats, hacks and current vulnerabilities of the crypto ecosystem.Kara has co-authored many U.S. patents including those for the underlying technology of encrypted messaging app, Wickr, which she also co-founded and served as the company’s Chief Product Officer and COO. Her other experiences in the private sector include working as the Vice President of Global Information Security for BNY Mellon where she was accepted into the firm’s Women’s Initiative Network and received special invitation to join the first Innovation Think Tank Program.Prior to her financial services career, Kara spent several years in information assurance and compliance for the United States Department of Defense where she secured and monitored networks that support overseas military operations. She pioneered solutions to improve organizational readiness and transitioned the military base protection to a proactive, cutting-edge solution.Kara holds various cyber security certifications and awards, has been an FBI InfraGard member since 2004 and was a member of FS-ISAC for 5 years. She has a Master of Science degree in Information Systems and a bachelor’s degree via a joint degree program at NJIT and Rutgers University.