McAfee Teaches Kids to be Cybersecurity Heroes

“I feel supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!” said Amelie, 8, after building a robot and learning about cybersecurity. “I thought I was coming in for a regular appointment and going back to school, but then I got to do all these fun things instead.”

Twenty-five McAfee employees visited Children’s National for a special play date in the Costco Wholesale Atrium on May 14 to help kids learn about cybersecurity and technology. About 100 patients participated, decorating “cybersecurity hero” capes and masks, taking photos, coloring, learning about internet security, and building STEM robots. Patients also joined Grant Bourzikas, Chief Information Security Officer at McAfee, for an interview in Seacrest Studios about cybersecurity. The interview was broadcast to patients and families in rooms throughout the hospital.

Describing McAfee like "internet police officers," Bourzikas discussed questions that kids and parents might have about safety on the internet, especially social media.

He advised kids, “Make sure your parents know what you’re doing on social media because your parents want to protect you.” And to parents, Bourzikas said, “Make sure that what your kids are doing on social media is in character, and ask questions if it’s not.”

McAfee’s visit to Children’s National aligned with the company’s annual Global Community Service Day, where 2,300 employees come #TogetherForGood, contributing 9,650 hours of service to 140 different organizations.

In December 2017, McAfee made a $500K gift of software and services to Children’s National. In today’s digital age, electronic health records and digital tools for clinical care – everything from diagnostic devices to home monitors – help achieve better outcomes for our patients and families. McAfee’s partnership helps Children’s National protect these types of digitized personal data and proactively enhance cybersecurity.

Last year, corporate partners like McAfee donated more than $60M to help Children’s National provide world-class care to every child in need.

For more information on our corporate sponsorship program, contact Miriam Selman, Senior Director, Corporate Partnerships, at [email protected]. To make an individual gift to help children grow up stronger, please visit childrensnational.org/giving.