Technology for Good | Joe Sullivan Security

TECHNOLOGY FOR GOOD

Tech With Purpose: Joe’s Mission to Create Real-World Impact

Joe Sullivan believes that technology and leadership in cybersecurity can be powerful forces for positive change. Through his leadership at Ukraine Friends, he helps deliver laptops and essential aid to children affected by war. He also advocates for using technology to prevent harm—from reducing online fraud to enhancing digital safety and well-being.

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UKRAINE FRIENDS

Life-Saving Humanitarian Aid to the People of Ukraine Affected by War

In January 2023, Joe Sullivan became the CEO of Ukraine Friends, a nonprofit organization committed to delivering life-saving humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine affected by the war. 

Ukraine Friends operates with a clear and urgent mission: to source and deliver aid as quickly as possible to make a real impact on the ground. Thanks to the dedication of the team and the generosity of donors and partners, the organization has provided critical support—including food, clean water, medical supplies, and remote learning resources for hundreds of children. 

Thanks to Joe’s deep roots in the tech industry and strong connections across the security community, the mission of Ukraine Friends quickly reached a wide network of professionals. Many responded by contacting their IT departments to donate unused laptops and devices—giving new life to equipment that now helps Ukrainian children continue their education remotely.

Yet the need continues to grow. Each day, Ukraine Friends receives applications from families who have lost one or both parents in the war and can no longer afford a laptop for their child to keep up with school. The organization remains focused on ensuring these children have the tools to learn and thrive, even in the most difficult circumstances. 

Ukraine Friends welcomes individuals and companies to join its mission. Supporters are recognized whenever possible, and the team is proud to highlight corporate social responsibility efforts through co-branded materials, impact stories, and transparent reporting on aid distribution.

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PROTECTION THAT MATTERS

Proactive Safety Through Innovation

The phrase an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure applies as much to Internet safety as it does to the medical world. I’ve often been asked why I left a career as a federal prosecutor to help companies with safety and security. The reason is simple - because when you work inside an organization that builds technology, you can steer the company to build products in a way that reduces risk.

There is no government agency directing that tech products be built with safety in mind the way there is with automobiles or airplanes - so we need people who really care about using technology for good inside our tech companies.

Here are some examples of how product design can help reduce risk:

At eBay we developed a rating system so that buyers and sellers could develop trust, and at AirBnB and Uber we customized that approach to support risk reduction for in-person interactions
At PayPal we developed robust analytics to detect abusive transactions and block them before a person sent money
At Facebook we created age-specific platform and communication rules to protect minors from abuse, and rolled out PhotoDNA, a tool that could detect and block someone from sending a child abuse image or other inappropriate content
At the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention we worked with search engines and social media companies to surface the Lifeline suicide prevention hotline whenever someone searched for the term suicide
At Uber we developed telematics to detect erratic driving and tools that required drivers to take selfies to ensure that the person driving was the same person who had cleared the background check

One of the most rewarding opportunities that comes from working on safety and security inside a technology-first organization is getting to develop and launch these and many more innovative ideas for reducing risk to people before something bad happens.