Summary
Joe Hopper is a founder and principal security consultant with nearly two decades of hands-on experience bridging software engineering and security across enterprises and startups. He leads Fracture Labs, applying a background from mainframes to modern app stacks to perform adversarial simulations, IoT/hardware assessments, reverse engineering, and threat hunting for diverse clients. Previously he built global application security and penetration testing programs at Kellogg and led threat response and intelligence efforts at American Family Insurance, turning offensive findings into actionable detections and remediation. Joe combines deep systems knowledge (WAF/IPS, infrastructure design, SIEM tuning) with custom tooling and exploit development, a practical edge rooted in his early career as an application architect and programmer. He also contributes to the local infosec ecosystem through board roles and mentoring, helping shape cybersecurity education and community CTFs in Wisconsin. Quietly, his career shows a pattern of creating sustainable programs—teams, SDLC processes, and continuous testing frameworks—that scale security beyond one-off engagements.
9 years of coding experience
14 years of employment as a software developer
MBA, MBA at Marquette University
Bachelor of Science, Information Systems (Computer Science minor), Bachelor of Science, Information Systems (Computer Science minor) at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh