At COO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based COO’ operating in the Network Security space. If you think a COO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected].
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Nicholas Warner
COO of SentinelOne
Nick leads the global sales organization and is responsible for driving the company’s revenue growth. Prior to joining Cylance, Nick led the Advanced Technology Group at Intel Security, and also served in sales leadership roles at Websense.
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About Cado Security Ltd, Noetic Cyber, SentinelOne: SentinelOne delivers autonomous endpoint protection that prevents, detects, and responds to attacks across all major vectors.
Vic Cekvenich
CTO – COO of Apakau
I am a seasoned tech executive and entrepreneur with a proven track record of success. I have over thirty years experience combining a strong technical background and business leadership. I believe that technology must be developed solely to achieve business objectives and to satisfy market demands. I believe innovation happens with small and elite teams of superstars rather than with armies of mediocre players. I also believe that creating an environment of high innovation requires a culture of high-output based on merit; a place where people are rewarded for taking good risks.
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About Apakau: Apakau’s Cloud Proxy is an intelligent, edge-based networking solution that stops (DDoS) attacks against dynamic data.
Garry Fatakhov
COO & Co-Founder of Siemplify
Garry is a seasoned entrepreneur with rich and diverse experience spanning both business and technology, His experience ranges from algorithmic research in algorithmic trading, cyber security and intelligence, to driving revenue and penetrating new markets.
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About Siemplify: Siemplify is a SOAR provider focused on security operations for enterprises and MSSPs worldwide.
Maxwell Blumenfeld
Co-Founder & COO of SentiLink
Maxwell Blumenfeld is a Co-Founder at SentiLink. He was a Data Scientist, Fraud Strategy Lead at Affirm, Inc., and Lead Associate at Novantas. Mr. Blumenfeld graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor of arts in Mathematics and Economics.
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About SentiLink: SentiLink is an identity verification technology company that helps in detecting and blocking synthetic identities.
Taly Slachevsky
Co-Founder, COO of zecOps
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About zecOps: ZecOps is a cybersecurity automation company that finds attackers’ mistakes.
Casey Hester
Co-Founder and COO of otto by DEVCON
Casey comes to DEVCON with a publishing career spanning nearly two decades, managing operations and creating new digital products. Her current obsessions are kombucha, tom ka soup and turning her house into a botanist’s greenhouse.
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About otto by DEVCON: otto by DEVCON specializes in the fields of risk management and SaaS.
Chad Thunberg
Chief Operating Officer of Leviathan Security Group
Chad is Leviathan’s Chief Operating Officer, responsible for managing the Professional Services Organization and maintaining Leviathan’s reputation for industry leading research and high quality consultative services. Chad specialized in Information Security for more than a decade before joining Leviathan as a founding member. He came from Washington Mutual where he was responsible for translating regulatory and business requirements into enterprise security solutions. Chad also led the team responsible for the proactive identification of process and technology vulnerabilities as part of the enterprise secure development lifecycle. Previously, Chad was a Security Consultant with Guardent, where he was responsible for developing and improving Guardent’s security methodologies and managed services platform. In addition, he acted as a mentor and leader for the west coast security practice. He also assisted Fortune 100 customers with innovative solutions for reducing their overall technology risk through the maturation of process and technology.
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About Leviathan Security Group: Leviathan Security Group is an internationally respected risk management and information security consulting, training, research company.
Yanek Korff
Co-founder and COO of Expel
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About Expel: Expel is a SOC-as-a-service platform that provides security monitoring and response for cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.
Jon Rappaport
COO and Co-Founder of SPARQ
Jon Rappaport is the COO and Co-Founder of SPARQ Global and also the Chairman & Co-founder at CIRPLE. Prior to SPARQ, He is a former Chief Technology Officer at AGL Energy and Chief Strategy Officer & Co-founder at Zome Energy Networks.
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About SPARQ: SPARQ is a computer security service company specializing in building and integrating hardware systems and providing managed services.
William Welch
President and Chief Operating Officer of Duo Security
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About Duo Security, Logikcull: Duo Security provides security software products and services.
Michael McCanna
COO of Immunefi
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About Immunefi: Immunefi is a DeFi’s bug bounty platform.
Marc Patterson
Chief Operating Officer of ZeroTier
Marc is ZeroTier’s Chief Operating Officer. A former senior executive with Boingo Wireless and BT, he has delivered award-winning mobile security & remote working solutions supporting small enterprises to multi-billion dollar organizations for over 25 years. Most recently the CEO of a media publishing startup powered by Emmy®-winning broadcast news talent, Marc also chairs Esports & Gaming for the investor non-profit L.A. Venture Association.
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About ZeroTier: ZeroTier is directly connecting the world’s devices through secure software-defined networking.
Patrick MeLampy
Co-founder and COO of 128 Technology
Patrick Melampy, one of the co-founders of 128 Technology, has served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and director since inception. With Andrew, Patrick co-founded Acme Packet Inc. and served as its Chief Technology Officer since August 2000. Patrick has over 15 years of communications engineering experience. He served as Vice President of Engineering of Priority Call Management since 1989. At PCM, Patrick developed and supported PCM’s network telecommunications products and grew the engineering team from two to 75 members. He has developed intellectual property portfolios at PCM, LHS PCM, and Acme Packet. He has accumulated 26 patents of which eight have been issued and 18 are pending. Patrick holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Boston University.
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About 128 Technology, G20 Ventures: 128 Technology provides software-based routing solutions that enable enterprises and service providers to build networks.
Vincent Tran
Co-Founder, COO of Liongard
Vincent Tran is the Co-Founder and the Chief Operating Officer at Liongard.
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About Liongard: Liongard’s changing the way MSPs manage and protect thousands of businesses worldwide. Manage modern IT with confidence.
Ben Cianciaruso
COO & Co-Founder of Verodin
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About Verodin: Verodin is a business platform that enables organizations to measure, manage, and improve their cybersecurity effectiveness.
Samuel Perl
COO and Founder of Fundology
Sam Perl is the Chief Operations Officer at Fundology
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About Fundology: Fundology is a high security M&A project management platform for complex transactions and due diligence.
Rick Hanson
Chief Operating Officer of Onapsis
Executive sales leader, building and developing high performing teams. Strong focus on key sales methodologies that enhance the sales culture and effectiveness. Experienced leader with many Cyber security and Identity Management technologies, Big Data, Application Delivery and IT Operations. . Results driven executive focused on key deliverables and metrics to drive optimal behaviors.
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About Onapsis: Onapsis provides cybersecurity and compliance solutions for cloud and on-premise ERP and business-critical applications.
Rick Hanson
Chief Operating Officer of Onapsis
Executive sales leader, building and developing high performing teams. Strong focus on key sales methodologies that enhance the sales culture and effectiveness. Experienced leader with many Cyber security and Identity Management technologies, Big Data, Application Delivery and IT Operations. . Results driven executive focused on key deliverables and metrics to drive optimal behaviors.
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About Onapsis: Onapsis provides cybersecurity and compliance solutions for cloud and on-premise ERP and business-critical applications.
Fabian Lobera
COO of Pitchengine
Fabian Lobera is the CFO at Language I/O.
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About Language I/O, Pitchengine: PitchEngine is PR platform that enables businesses to create content to share via social networks, search engines and mobile devices.
Brian Anderson
Co-Founder & COO of PureWRX
Brian Anderson is COO at PureWRX.Brian is primarily responsible for overseeing operations, finance, legal and technology.
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About Coro Health, PureWRX: PureWRX is a channel-friendly platform for IT hardware manufacturers that creates and captures revenue opportunities from the market.
Frank Tawil
COO of Kaizen Technology Partners
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About Diversity Equity Inclusion, Kaizen Technology Partners: Kaizen Technology Partners is a provider of IT infrastructure services.
Sarah (Merrion) Isaacs
Founder and COO of NorthStar
Sarah (Merrion) Isaacs is Founder and COO at Convectus for almost 11 years now. Before this, she was a consulting services technical manager at Symantec Corporation.
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About NorthStar: Our NorthStar platform uses existing security and enterprise data to prioritize the exposures that present the greatest risk to the business
Jay Conn
Chief Operating Officer of Netsurion
Jay joined the team in 2014, having served in operational leadership positions for growth-oriented technology businesses for over 30 years. Prior to joining Netsurion, Jay served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Alteva, Inc., a publicly traded, leading provider of cloud-based unified communication solutions, recently acquired by Momentum Telecom. From 2003 to 2008, Jay served as Senior Vice President, Operations at Verid, a SaaS provider of identity verification services, acquired by EMC in 2007. Between 1986 to 1995, and 2000 to 2002, Jay worked for Equitrac Corporation, a market leader in intelligent print and cost management solutions. From 1995 to 2000, Jay held senior leadership positions in technology operations for the law firms Keesal, Young & Logan and Arter and Hadden, LLP. Since 2008, he also serves as an independent consultant for start-ups and emerging technology businesses, providing guidance on operational issues and growth strategies. Jay holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an MBA from California State University, Long Beach.
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About Netsurion: Netsurion is a provider of cloud-managed IT security services that protect small-and medium-sized business’ information.
Paul Willoughby
Chief Operating Officer of TRUNO, Retail Technology Solutions
As the Chief Operating Officer, Paul oversees special projects and major roll outs for customers. A problem solver and executor, Paul takes a hands on approach with the projects he leads. Never afraid to go above and beyond to get the job done, Paul sets a strong example for the TRUNO team. Paul began in the retail point of sale industry in 1988 and has since developed a reputation as one of the foremost experts in the ISS45 software platform. Recognized with numerous awards for customer support and technical achievements, Paul served as a member of the StoreNext Technical Council. Paul was a recipient of the George C. Wallace Scholarship and attended Troy State University.
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About TRUNO, Retail Technology Solutions: TRUNO, Retail Technology Solutions is the national leader in integrated technology solutions focused solely on the retail industry.
John Kipp
COO of Sera-Brynn
John Kipp, COO John Kipp is a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sera-Brynn. In 2012, Mr. Kipp oversaw the development of Sera-Brynn’s cyber security services, compliance capabilities, and associated staffing. He currently manages the firm’s operational capabilities supporting critical security and compliance operations for multiple business markets, to include Fortune 1000, Healthcare, Maritime Logistics, and Government. Prior to starting Sera-Brynn, Mr. Kipp managed several multi-million dollar contracts while working for Booz Allen Hamilton in support of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Mr. Kipp served in the United States Navy as a Cryptologic Technician, Collecting (CTR) primarily in locations throughout the Pacific.
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About Sera-Brynn: Sera-Brynn is a global Cybersecurity Audit and Advisory firm.
Nahal Shahidzadeh
Co-Founder & COO of Acceptto
Nahal Shahidzadeh leads Acceptto’s operations and planning. Nahal is an entrepreneur with broad experience covering financial services and managing private funds. Previously, she worked on microprocessor design and development of the Pentium 4 microprocessor at Intel Corp. with 6 issued and pending patents.
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About Acceptto: A cybersecurity company focused on identity access management and treating authentication not as a single event, but rather a continuum.
Molly Slade
Founder and COO of KineticFuse
Molly is responsible for ThreatWarrior’s day-to-day operations, as well as the execution of corporate goals to ensure the company’s effective performance and growth. Molly brings more than 25 years of experience in strategic business planning, management and analysis to ThreatWarrior. She has experience with successful technology startups and a proven track record of driving business outcomes through policy creation and oversight. Molly also specializes in organizational leadership, budgeting, personnel development, and customer care. When she’s not at work, Molly spends time with her family. She also loves horses and horseback riding, and visits her horse, Bella, at the stable most weekends.
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About KineticFuse, ThreatWarrior: KineticFuse provides next-generation threat identification, accelerated response and threat prevention capabilities.
Howard Pearl
Chief Operating Officer of Tagrem Corp
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About Tagrem Corp: A technology solutions provider delivering Enterprise Software, Mobile Apps, Customer Relationship Automation and Security Services.
Aaron Shilts
President and Chief Operating Officer of NetSPI
Aaron Shilts is a leader in the cybersecurity industry with over 20 years of experience building organizations and leading teams that drive measurable customer success. He is focused on operational excellence and delivering innovative solutions to our customers. Prior to NetSPI, Aaron was the EVP of Worldwide Services at FishNet Security / Optiv and led through one of the industry’s largest mergers. Aaron is also an industry advisor to leading investment firms. Aaron holds a B.S. in Business Computer Information Systems from St. Cloud State University and served proudly in the MN National Guard.
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About NetSPI: NetSPI is a cybersecurity company that offers enterprise security testing and attack surface management.
Bob Slapnik
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Runway Software
Bob the co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Outlier Security. He is dedicated to serving the customer’s needs in all aspects of Outlier’s business including product features, services, marketing, sales, business development and support. As Vice President and Co-Founder at HBGary, Bob generated revenue from many sources, including multiple Government Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contracts with DoD and DHS, Government subcontracts with a wide variety of primes, training programs, and special purpose security software development programs. He then reengineered HBGary’s business model, transitioning the firm from being a services provider into a successful commercial software company making hundreds of product sales throughout the Federal Government and into several commercial industries. Revenue growth under his leadership allowed HBGary to expand without outside equity investment. Before joining Outlier Security, Bob was Director of Federal Sales at Invincea, Inc. where he led the company in total sales revenue in 2013. Bob is formerly the President and Founder of Network Test Solutions, LLC and President and Founder of Chesapeake Capital Corp., and has held marketing and sales positions with Hewlett Packard Company, Sequent Computer Systems, and NetIQ (formerly Ganymede Software).
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About Runway Software: Runway Software specializes in developing a set of next-generation enterprise security tools.
Peter Nabicht
COO/President and Co-Founder of 12Sided Technology
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About 12Sided Technology: 12Sided Technology provides a data capture and analytics platform.
Brian Zeman
COO of Prevalent Networks
Advisory Board Member at IBM Resilient. Chief Operating Officer at NS1& Company Prevalent Inc.
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About NS1, Prevalent Networks, SevOne: Prevalent was founded two goals in mind. First, to work with the leaders in information security
Kevin Moshir
Co-Founder, COO & President of CellTrust Corp
Mr. Moshir oversees the high-level management of operational activities and strategic product development at CellTrust®. Moshir began his career engineering large-scale infrastructure management systems in the governmental and regulatory compliance sectors. In 1995, Moshir co-founded ISmart Technologies Inc., a leading provider of integrated business management solutions for small- and medium-sized companies in the Mid-Atlantic region. An Internet Security veteran, Mr. Moshir went on to become president of PatchLink Corporation (now Lumension Security,) a global market leader in security patching, vulnerability management, and remediation software. In just a few years, Moshir led PatchLink’s global expansion and hyper growth resulting in a 25-fold increase in sales revenue. In 2003, PatchLink was awarded the Arizona Innovators award for excellence from the governor of Arizona, and in 2004, they won the prestigious INC 500 Award. CellTrust brought home three prestigious awards in 2008, namely the CTIA Emerging Technology Finalist Award, the Fierce 15 Top Emerging Wireless Companies 2008 Award, and the Best of WiMAX World EMEA 2008 Industry Choice Award nomination within the innovation category for its patent pending Global SecureSMS® Gateway.
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About CellTrust Corp: CellTrust Corp – Prime Message mobile marketing business
Anton Aksenov
COO of LevelNet
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About LevelNet: Network of collective information security. Revolutionary peer to peer cyber protection network growing stronger with every new member.
Ed Lee
COO of Flying Cloud Technology
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About Flying Cloud Technology: Flying Cloud protects enterprise data through innovative application of big-data analytics to all packets traversing a network.
Joel Menk
Chief Operating Officer of Datashield
Joel Menk has more than 25 years of experience in the information technology industry including engineering, sales, and management positions. As COO, he is responsible for DATASHIELD’s growth, revenue, and efficiency targets as well as providing clients with a seamless business experience. He leads the strategic direction for corporate business and oversees the company’s daily operations. Prior to co-founding DATASHIELD in 2009, Mr. Menk worked at firms ranging from large IT companies like IBM to mid-size, high-growth firms and start-up endeavors. In addition to his 11 years in engineering and sales roles at IBM, he served for 11 years as Vice President, Telecommunications Group and Managing Director at CTS. During Mr. Menk’s tenure at CTS, his leadership led to the company’s successful growth as a major entity in IT professional services and consulting, and subsequently to the positioning and sale of CTS to a major technology value-added reseller. At DATASHIELD, he draws on his skills in building and growing successful consulting and services firms, and his ability to execute a business model from initial start-up to a high-growth, sustainable enterprise. Mr. Menk earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
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About Datashield: DATASHIELD has provided advanced data security services since its founding in 2009
Mohammad Sadjadpour
COO & Co-founder of Militus
29 year Boeing veteran with expertise in business strategy, international business, system integration, program management, and complex systems modeling & simulation. Retired as the Director of Business Development for Cyber Security Solutions. Attended Northrop Institute of Technology, Cal. State Univ. LA, and USC earning BS/MS/EME degrees respectively in Mechanical Engineering, MBA from Pepperdine Univ., and Information Security Technical Studies Certification from Cal. Poly Pomona.
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About Militus: Militus is a cyber security company that provides an advanced cyber and network security solutions for government and commercial sectors.
Aaron Frketich
Chief Operating Officer of 360IT Partners
Away from the office, Aaron enjoys relaxing at home with his wife Gena. They both enjoy vacationing in Las Vegas, where they were married in 2005. Other interests include online gaming, weight training, and sampling craft beer.
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About 360IT Partners: 360IT Partners offers a wide array of fixed-rate network services, IT consulting, and computer support solutions for SMEs.
Gene Farrelly
COO of Drive Trust Alliance
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About Drive Trust Alliance: The Drive Trust Alliance promotes awareness and accelerates adoption of self-encrypting storage solutions.
Yasu Hamano
Chief Operating Officer of Tokyo Electron Device
Yasu Hamano is the chief operating officer at Tokyo Electron Device in America.
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About Tokyo Electron Device: Tokyo Electron Device is a technology trading company that offers semiconductors and network systems.