MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC), the world’s leading cyber security company, today announced Team ‘Wakanda Vibes’ from South Africa as the winner of its recent hackathon hosted in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Africa Teen Geeks organization.
From July 9-11, 2018 at Symantec’s Mountain View campus, four teams from across South Africa, Bolivia, Indonesia and the United States competed for three days to develop educational games and applications that teach values around social justice and respect for the rule of law relating to crime. Hackathon participants created various applications that focused on:
- Human trafficking, highlighting the importance of tackling this crime, and providing users with quick, useful resources to get information about the topic and report it to authorities as needed.
- The online risks that social media can pose, such as cyber crime and human trafficking, teaching teenagers how to be safe online and protect their privacy.
- Cyber crime, with the aim of promoting equality and equal development within society, encouraging users to build infrastructure like schools and hospitals. To advance in the competition, participants must navigate a series of hypothetical problems, like corruption, cyber crime and migrant smuggling in building their virtual infrastructure.
“The talent, creativity and technical chops that these young individuals demonstrated were incredible to witness,” said Amy Capellanti-Wolf, Chief Human Resources Officer at Symantec.
“Symantec is extremely proud to support such a strong cause that empowers the next generation to hone their computer science skills, develop products for good, and ultimately help create a better society.”
Teams were assessed by the hackathon contestants themselves as well as a panel of judges, including Lisa Martin, Executive Director of MUN Impact; Jillian Scott, Director of TechWomen; Gilberto Duarte, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer of UNODC; Kenneth Schneider, VP of Technology Strategy at Symantec; Deena Thomchick, Senior Director of Product Management at Symantec; and H.E. Ambassador Dr. Saif bin Mohammed Al-Kuwari, member of the Qatar National Cyber Security Committee.
The Symantec-sponsored hackathon was the final round of competition for the winners of three regional hackathons that took place in South Africa, Indonesia and Bolivia over the past year. For more information about the hackathon, including visuals from the event, please visit: https://www.symantec.com/blogs/feature-stories/next-generation-teens-display-tech-chops-symantec-hackathon.
About the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
UNODC works to counter drugs, crime and terrorism, and mobilizes and promotes regional and transnational cooperation to confront these threats. Specific efforts are made to target the world’s most vulnerable regions, where the convergence of these issues threatens regional and global security. UNODC works directly with governments, international organizations, and civil society. For more, visit www.unodc.org and find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About Africa Teen Geeks
Africa Teen Geeks is one of the largest computer science education nonprofit organizations in Africa. Since its inception three years ago, Africa Teen Geeks has impacted over 40,000 kids and is growing with campaigns such as Girl Geek, Computer Science Week and Knit2code, a programme that teaches girls with no access to computers coding by utilizing knitting. For more information, visit www.africateengeeks.co.za and find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC), the world's leading cyber security company, helps organizations, governments and people secure their most important data wherever it lives. Organizations across the world look to Symantec for strategic, integrated solutions to defend against sophisticated attacks across endpoints, cloud and infrastructure. Likewise, a global community of more than 50 million people and families rely on Symantec's Norton and LifeLock product suites to protect their digital lives at home and across their devices. Symantec operates one of the world's largest civilian cyber intelligence networks, allowing it to see and protect against the most advanced threats. For additional information, please visit www.symantec.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
