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CMMC Center of Excellence Announces Engagement Agreement with TechnoGen & TechnoGen Cybersecurity

Interoperability Clearinghouse

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Center of Excellence ( CMMC COE ), hosted by the Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC), a public-private partnership serving the public and private sectors for more than 15 years, is excited to announce a partnership with TechnoGen, Inc., an ISO 9001:2015, ISO 20000-1:2011, ISO 27001:2013 and CMMI Level 3 Global IT Services and Consulting Company headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia and Offshore Development Center in Hyderabad, India. This unique partnership will extend efforts to identify and include proven capabilities within the CMMC COE Marketplace to improve cybersecurity protection and resilience for the global defense industrial base network of contractors, vendors, and suppliers. In addition, the partnership with TechnoGen and TechnoGen Cybersecurity establishes a presence for the CMMC COE in India with a future plan for a Center of Excellence- India in collaboration with the CMMC COE APAC. With over 16 years of experience providing end to end IT Services and Solutions to the Public and Private sectors, TGI provides highly skilled and certiﬁed professionals committed to helping clients solve complex problems and achieve their goals, on time and under budget. “This is exciting opportunity for us”, said Mr. John Weiler, Chairman of the Board at CMMC Center of Excellence, “This new partnership will further help advance the goals and objectives for improving the supply chain security and resilience of the US Department of Defense (DoD)”. Mr. Lax Chepuri, CEO of TechnoGen, Inc. expressed confidence and delight in the newly formed relationship with the CMMC COE saying, “Both TechnoGen, Inc. and TechnoGen Cybersecurity and will bring enthusiastic support for the goals and standards of the CMMC COE in both the U.S. and India Defense sectors.” The executed Engagement Agreement establishes a collaborative engagement between TechnoGen and the CMMC COE to partner in the furthering of their respective and complementary missions and objectives regarding the adoption, use, and expansion of CMMC based cybersecurity practices, risk management, and compliance for the DIB contractor, vendor, and supplier community of providers creating a broader CMMC ecosystem globally to improve security and resilience. Specific actions will include: The co-development of CMMC advisory services, cyber training and education programs to accelerate CMMC certification, increase cyber adoption and improve cyber protection & resilience. Co-sponsor symposiums, training programs and podcasts leveraging their combined cyber and IT expertise. Host regular working groups, with other partners, to enable collaboration and communications. Establish an independent Industry Cyber Security Advisory Council with peer organizations to advise and educate leaders across government and industry on the continued evolution and effectiveness of CMMC. The CMMC-COE ( http://cmmc-coe.org ) and TechnoGen partnership will focus on bringing together the many disparate cyber and national security communities of interest to reduce complexity, improve awareness, and accelerate industry effort to become more cyber resilient against the growing threats from nation states and criminal enterprises. The CMMC-COE establishes both a Market Place and Knowledge Clearinghouse that will include resources that support the overall effort, including white papers; tutorials; recorded webcasts; presentations; and more that will help reduce the cost and burden on small and medium size contractors already struggling from the impact of COVID. For more information on the CMMC COE, please visit http://cmmc-coe.org, email info@cmmc-coe.org or call 703-863-3766 For more information on TechnoGen, please visit https://www.technogeninc.com/ About Us ---------- CMMC-COE.ORG is a unique non-profit public-private partnership, with a vision to accelerate Cybersecurity Maturity Model (CMM) adoption, and reduce time & cost for security compliance for our partners by leveraging commercial best practices, CMMC standards, and innovative solutions for a measurable success. Our mission, focused on DOD mission objectives, cost containment and expeditious CMMC compliance, is to help the DIB improve cyber posture and resilience, and simplify its acquisition. The CMMC-COE is hosted by the Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC), a public/private partnership (P3) chartered in 2007 as an honest broker to reach outside the confines of the Federal IT advisories that lack dynamic reach into the Global IT Market, and dedicated to the adoption of commercial IT management standards of practice and innovations emanating from the Global IT market. Team IT-AAC has already demonstrated the value of its decade long investment, and provides a unique value to agencies seeking to achieve accelerate the transformation of legacy processes and systems. Our Just-in-Time SMEs apply an innovative suite of Technology Business Management and Agile Acquisition Processes needed to assure the business value of commercial IT. The Interoperability Clearinghouse (ICH), is the managing partner that make up the 24 NGO/SDO organizations that make up the IT-AAC. ICH provides the contract vehicles, clearances, and critical resources proven to guide sustainable, measurable and repeatable processes needed to drive better investment decisions as the speed of mission need, while aligning existing processes, methods and workforce with IT reform mandates contained in Clinger Cohen Act, FITARA, IT MGT Act, EO13838. Contact Details Bob Dix +1 703-975-6633 bob.dix@it-aac.org Company Website https://cmmc-coe.org

March 22, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Microdium, a Leading Business Continuity Solution Distributor in Southeast Asia, Selects Comodo to Power Its Cybersecurity Solutions

Comodo

As a business continuity solution distributor, Microdium has seen numerous cases where cyber-threats have ransacked companies in Southeast Asia. The increasing complexity of the cyber-threat landscape has led the company to explore a comprehensive, highly-effective cybersecurity solution. "We chose to partner with Comodo because of the ease of use of the Dragon platform and the auto containment technology. Auto containment is a killer feature compared to everything else on the market. Why offer 99 percent when you can have 100 percent threat protection? Plus, the pricing is attractive, and the cherry on top is the superb support team," says Sher Khan, Cybersecurity Director at Microdium. Microdium also selected Comodo for its SOC-as-a-Platform; it was something that none of the other vendors that Microdium had previously worked with or spoken to had available. Comodo’s next-gen SOC-as-a-platform (SOCaaP) includes people, processes, and technology and offers fully white-label capability for any MSSP or enterprise. It saves the company’s partners time and money with zero capital outlay. “The increasing complexity of the cyber-threat landscape and industry-specific requirements demand solution specialists. Through our Comodo partnership, our partners, resellers, and managed service providers can offer their customers everything from Managed Detection and Response (MDR) as a service to custom SOC-as-a-Service, and enterprise solutions with no initial investment,” says Schumacher. Watch Microdium explain why they chose Comodo Comodo’s Managed Detection and Response offering provides a 24/7 Security Operations Center delivered as a Service (SOCaaS). Comodo’s MDR provides a team of security researchers that extends a company’s IT team to safeguard systems and infrastructure. “Comodo is very advanced and competes with the Enterprise solutions at half the price. With Cloud-Based EDR and Complete Endpoint Management with RMM Capabilities, it will be a sweet spot even for SME businesses.” Said M.C.Sajiv, CEO of Microdium. Melih Abdulhayoglu, Founder and Chairman of Comodo, says, “We look forward to a strong future with Microdium. By providing cybersecurity solutions that allow Microdium to deliver better IT security solutions to their customers, we’re helping them minimize the average cost of cyber-attacks targeting companies in Malaysia and Singapore. Comodo is excited to help Microdium in their mission.” About Microdium Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore Microdium partners works 100% with resellers, system integrators, and OEMs to deliver innovation and cost-effective business continuity and cybersecurity solution for enterprise computing environments. Watch Microdium explain why they chose Comodo About Comodo Comodo is the world’s leader of next-generation open source cybersecurity, with the industry’s most disruptive innovations. We help customers stop breaches with groundbreaking auto containment technology that neutralizes ransomware, malware and cyber-attacks. Our complete cloud-native framework delivers a zero-trust architecture with active breach protection for the most comprehensive defense against zero-day threats. Comodo’s cybersecurity products maximize intelligent sharing between every component of the platform, therefore providing superior security. We are the only company that analyzes and gives a trusted verdict for 100% of files on a network. Comodo leverages innovation to celebrate and support the cybersecurity community by offering the very first open source endpoint detection and response (EDR). We believe that an open source model using community-powered collaboration will ensure that every organization has access to the industry’s most sophisticated EDR. Headquartered in Clifton NJ, Comodo’s global development team and threat intelligence laboratories deliver innovative, category leading, security solutions for thousands of companies’ endpoints, network boundaries, and internal networks. For more information visit https://www.comodo.com/ Contact Details Carolyn Muzyka +1 973-859-4000 carolyn.muzyka@comodo.com Company Website http://www.comodo.com

March 19, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Clearbanc and Pencil partner to help ecommerce businesses grow using creative AI

Stockwood Strategy

Creative AI company Pencil has partnered with the world’s largest e-commerce investor Clearbanc to provide their customers with the latest innovation in online video advertising, Machine Generated Creative (MGC). These ads can be created in minutes and consistently double return on ad spend for brands. It is anticipated that companies using the Pencil platform will be able to unlock new audiences on Facebook and Instagram and grow revenue faster. MGC online video ads are generated by artificial intelligence (AI), while learning what resonates with audiences, in order to systematically deliver better results for brands. Using historic ad performance data, Pencil is able to understand what in the ad is resonating with customers. It can then generate new batches of ad ideas which are new and distinct, but which share winning characteristics with past winners. In this way Pencil learns what works while continuously exploring new ideas that could resonate with audiences. Pencil analysed over 100 campaigns that used MGC video ads and found the best MGC ads delivered an average return on ad spend (ROAS) 2x that of other ads the brands were running. One brand’s MGC campaign delivered 7x higher ROAS. Will Hanschell, CEO and co-founder of Pencil commented: “This partnership with Clearbanc underlines the success we’ve had with our Machine Generated Creative ads for brands around the world. These ads are helping ecommerce brands and agencies grow, and I am confident we can help them scale further.” This partnership announcement comes hot o n the heels of Pencil joining as a creative partner in Facebook Marketing Partners, a program that connects businesses to an ecosystem of specialists. More than 200 million businesses worldwide use Facebook’s apps to connect with customers and grow, and over 10 million of them run advertising campaigns each month. Pencil customer James Harding, Head of Growth at Lyka Pet Food commented: "Pencil gives us the ability to generate ads quickly and more importantly, come up with ideas we might not have otherwise. It's been a massive win for us essentially." Pencil leverages proprietary technology to generate ad video, derive insights and make predictions, as well as integrating the OpenAI API to generate ad copy. The OpenAI API provides access to GPT-3, one of the world’s most powerful language models. Pencil is among the first companies approved to use it commercially. This approval requires strict criteria in AI safety and ethics. Daniel Rodic, Head of Market Development commented: “Clearbanc was created to help Founders grow their businesses by using our non-dilutive capital to invest in predictable and repeatable expenses like marketing spend. Pencil’s technology offers a simple solution for brands in our portfolio to improve their return on ad spend and ultimately maximize the effectiveness of the capital they deploy.” Clearbanc has deployed over US$1.6b to more than 4,000 ecommerce and SaaS businesses. EndS Notes to the editor About Pencil Pencil is a Creative AI company on a mission to generate unexpected ideas that get results. Pencil generates ads that learn to perform, delivering the return on ad spend that helps brands scale their businesses. Pencil invented Machine Generated Creative (MGC), a new way of making ads that algorithmically optimises for creative novelty, brand relevance and return on advertising spend. It always starts from a human brief and it always involves total human editorial control. Pencil’s MGC platform generates ads in minutes and has been shown to generate ads that double returns for brands. Pencil was founded in 2018 with a team from Google, Facebook and Uber and is backed by Sequoia Capital India, Wavemaker Partners, Singapore Innovate and Entrepreneur First. About Clearbanc Founded in 2015 by Michele Romanow (Canada’s Shark Tank), Andrew D’Souza, Ivan Gritsiniak, Charlie Feng, and Tanay Delima, Clearbanc is changing the way companies raise money by providing fast, affordable capital to online brands and B2B SaaS companies. Clearbanc’s data-driven algorithm has invested in 4,000+ companies across 50 states and backed 8x more female-founders than traditional VC. Clearbanc customers span small businesses across the United States, Canada, and the UK to some of the fastest-growing consumer brands today, like Le Tote, Leesa Sleep, Farmgirl Flowers, and Public Goods. For more information visit Clearbanc.com Contact Details Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 press@trypencil.com Company Website https://www.trypencil.com/

March 17, 2021 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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WitFoo Announces First OEM Partnership with Roqos

WitFoo

WitFoo, the world’s most intelligent SECOPS platform fueled by big data analytics, announced today an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partnership with Roqos, the innovative leader of cybersecurity, VPN and cellular data solutions. As part of the partnership, WitFoo Precinct will be pre-installed on Roqos Core appliances and available to purchase directly from Roqos. “Witfoo’s Precinct is a valuable addition to our existing cybersecurity solution which consists of auto-updated IPS, DNS/IP filters, Country Block and real-time alerts on our next-gen firewall Roqos Core appliances,” said Sezen Uysal, founder and CEO of Roqos. “In addition, Roqos provides complete Precinct implementation by having all Roqos Cores automatically collect and securely send network data essential for Precinct’s analysis.” By leveraging crowdsourced intelligence from security experts, WitFoo promises a greater than 90 percent reduction in time and labor spent performing security investigations. The company’s flagship product, Precinct, is a cost-contained, infinitely scalable solution that increases the efficiency and effectiveness of security teams and produces business metrics to drive transformative conversations. “We couldn’t be more excited to sign on our first OEM partner,” said Tim Bradford, CEO of WitFoo. “This agreement with Roqos serves as further validation of our go-to-market business strategy, and I have no doubt this is the first of many similar partnerships to come.” WitFoo Precinct is available immediately through Roqos. For pricing and other information, contact info@roqos.com. For additional detail on WitFoo OEM, reselling and technology partners, visit: https://www.witfoo.com/partners/ About Roqos Founded in 2013, Roqos, Inc., based in Tysons, VA, provides cybersecurity, VPN, and cellular solutions to homes, businesses and service providers via its high performance Roqos Cores appliances, which are cloud-managed and equipped with automatic software and security updates. For more information, visit https://www.roqos.com. About WitFoo Built by veterans of the military, law enforcement and cyber security, WitFoo Precinct is the world’s most intelligent SECOPS platform fueled by big data analytics. By crowdsourcing intelligence from a global community of cybersecurity experts, applying time-tested methodologies from law enforcement and leveraging intelligent data and analytics, Precinct’s Investigative Engine results in a greater than 90% reduction in time and labor spent performing security investigations. The platform produces metrics on risk, tool effectiveness, operational efficiency and security gaps to fuel transformational business conversations. Infinite scalability, cost-contained licensing and flexible deployment options make Precinct an effective and economic solution for any organization looking to improve their security operations. For more information, visit www.witfoo.com Contact Details Merritt Group for WitFoo Mia Wilcox +1 610-564-6773 wilcox@merrittgrp.com Company Website https://www.witfoo.com/

March 17, 2021 09:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Industrial Defender and aeCyberSolutions Join Forces to Elevate OT Cybersecurity Assessments for Energy and Maritime Companies

Industrial Defender

Industrial Defender, an operational technology (OT) security pioneer and aeCyberSolutions, a recognized leader in industrial control system (ICS) cybersecurity services, announced today that they will team up to offer complete cyber risk assessments for critical infrastructure organizations. Combining OT network and device analysis from Industrial Defender’s Automation Systems Manager ® with aeCyberSolutions’ aeCyberPHA ® ICS risk assessment methodology delivers the most technically comprehensive, risk-based OT cybersecurity assessment available for energy, maritime and other critical industries. “The winning combination of aeCyberSolutions’ impressive engineering expertise and our powerful OT network and device data platform will equip stakeholders in the energy and maritime industries with the most thorough evaluations available to understand how to best secure their control and safety systems,” said Jim Crowley, CEO of Industrial Defender. The partnership agreement provides aeSolutions with a license to use Industrial Defender’s powerful tools to aid aeSolutions experts in the analysis of control system data to discover ICS assets and vulnerabilities. The use of this technology improves efficiency as well as the quality of the information available to the risk assessment team and the client. “An accurate OT cybersecurity risk assessment requires a proven methodology, knowledgeable subject matter experts and accurate information about the system(s) under consideration”, says John Cusimano, VP Industrial Cybersecurity of aeCyberSolutions. “Incorporating Industrial Defender’s tools with our methodologies and experience will provide clients with the most realistic and defendable representation of OT cyber risk available”. To learn more about the partnership, contact aeCyberSolutions at www.aeCyberSolutions.com or Industrial Defender at www.industrialdefender.com. About Industrial Defender Since 2006, Industrial Defender has been solving the challenge of safely collecting, monitoring, and managing OT asset data at scale, while providing cross-functional teams with a unified view of security. Their specialized solution is tailored to complex industrial control system environments by engineers with decades of hands-on OT experience. Easy integrations into the broader security and enterprise ecosystem empower IT teams with the same visibility, access, and situational awareness that they’re accustomed to on corporate networks. Learn more at www.industrialdefender.com. About aeCyberSolutions™ aeCyberSolutions, the Industrial Cybersecurity division of aeSolutions, exclusively provides industrial cybersecurity services including risk assessments, program development, implementation, support, and training to clients in oil and gas, chemicals, maritime, water, industrial gases, and other process industries. A leader in the intersection of cybersecurity and process safety, aeCyberSolutions helps clients identify and address cybersecurity risks in a manner that is consistent with the engineering methods already in place for process safety risk management.  They do so by leveraging existing information and practices while presenting a single, consistent expression of risk to senior management. The aeCyberSolutions team is exclusively staffed with personnel who have strong industrial automation backgrounds and general IT and IT security backgrounds and credentials.  This combination of IT and Operational Technology (OT) expertise is essential for working in the field of industrial cybersecurity. aeCyberSolutions is based in Greenville, SC. For more information, visit www.aeCyberSolutions.com or follow @aesolns. Contact Details Industrial Defender Erin Anderson +1 617-675-4206 eanderson@industrialdefender.com For aeCyberSolutions Kari Walker (617)-675-4206 Kari@redironpr.com Company Website https://www.industrialdefender.com

March 17, 2021 09:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time

IQAX Powers GSBN’s Blockchain Platform

Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 17 March 2021 - IQAX Limited, a leading-edge information technology company providing intelligent digital solutions for global shipping and trade, today announced it has been officially commissioned by the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) to develop, enhance and operate the world-class blockchain platform. The platform will enable real-time data sharing among authorized parties using blockchain technology for more transparent end-to-end supply chain visibility. As a trusted partner IQAX will enable GSBN and its future members to develop standards and functionalities to seamlessly connect stakeholders in the global shipping and trading ecosystem while ensuring data integrity, security and service excellence are maintained. Over the past year, the global health crisis catalyzed the need for business data and transparency in the supply chain as many businesses worked remotely, minimized contact points, and responded to the rapid changes in consumer demand. Many of those in the transportation and logistics sector faced mounting pressure on operations due to various challenges from labor availability, restrictive health protocols, to shifting trade patterns. In this environment, the need for a blockchain platform to facilitate tight, multiple-domain cooperation amongst every party in the global supply chain has become more important than ever before. IQAX strives to create a harmonized global trade environment for the stakeholders in the multiple-domain ecosystem through its application development effort, products and services. Building solutions based on digital technologies including blockchain, IOT and AI, IQAX is connecting parties across multiple domains and creating intelligent solutions which help businesses embrace digitalization, information sharing and analysis, and respond faster to supply chain disruptions. IQAX inherits the initial development of the blockchain platform from its business affiliate, CargoSmart Limited. Evolving and expanding upon its blockchain focus, IQAX will enable decentralized collaboration and governance to optimize cross-domain synergies and facilitate multiple-domain connectivity for the broader shipping ecosystem. Bertrand Chen, Chief Executive Officer, Global Shipping Business Network, said “We are pleased to have IQAX as the platform provider for GSBN. We share the same vision of enabling and accelerating the digital transformation of the shipping industry. Through the platform built by IQAX, we will be able to bring all stakeholders together in a secure, neutral, trusted and equitable way, from logistics service providers to financial institutions. We aim to increase the speed of logistics and the ease of conducting trade globally, ultimately benefitting all parties involved. We are here to simplify trade for all.” Moving forward, IQAX will help GSBN drive digitalization mandates that best meet the needs of the global trade ecosystem. IQAX plans to build on its vision to digitalize to create a harmonized global trade environment, as well as offering technologically advanced applications for shippers and logistics service providers to address current challenges through smart solutions which enable contactless interactions, tracking of physical cargo and alerts with recovery recommendations. Sign up for updates about solutions to increase visibility for the global trade ecosystem at www.iqax.com, and follow IQAX on LinkedIn and Twitter. About IQAX IQAX is a global information technology company that provides intelligent and digital transformation solutions using blockchain for enterprises in the logistics ecosystem. Backed by its strong heritage in container shipping, IQAX strives to foster a harmonized and connected global trade environment. As an industry leader, IQAX connects with shippers, freight forwarders, carriers, terminals, and financial institutions, and empowers them with digitized solutions to meet emerging business challenges throughout the supply chain. About GSBN Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) is a data exchange platform established on a not-for-profit basis. Its shareholders are comprised of major global Carriers and Terminal Operators. Its mission is to enable and to accelerate the digital transformation of the global shipping industry by providing an end to end, secure, digital collaboration platform to share verified logistics and cargo data to benefit all stakeholders involved in global trade. Here to simplify trade for all. For more information please visit www.gsbn.trade Contact Details burson cohn & wolfe Kelvin Yeung +852 3996 9731 Kelvin.yeung@bcw-global.com Company Website https://www.media-outreach.com/

March 17, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

New Economist Intelligence Unit report looks at the intersection of technology, crime and illicit trade

Media Outreach

The report focuses on three technologies—encryption, blockchain and 3D printing—and how they benefit criminals and law enforcement The tension this creates can be resolved on the enforcement side with cooperation and trust-building HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 17 March 2021 - Advances in technology bring many benefits, as the speed of development of the covid-19 vaccines demonstrates. But they also create new tensions across a host of areas. Unintended consequences, unexpected benefits: Technology, crime and illicit trade, a report from The Economist Intelligence Unit, supported by Philip Morris International, explores those tensions across three technologies: encryption, blockchain and 3D printing. Encryption Encryption is both a technology that protects legitimate interests and one that is open to abuse by malicious actors. Law-abiding citizens value the protection offered by encryption to safeguard privacy in their daily lives; criminals also value it for safeguarding their illegal activities and identities. The private sector has so far remained steadfast in their refusal to share encryption keys with governments and law enforcement. There's little to suggest that stance is going to change soon, if ever, since any relaxation is likely to quickly result in users migrating to other platforms. Blockchain Despite its libertarian origins, blockchain may emerge as a leading enforcement technology for combating illicit trade. Distributed ledgers can enhance authenticity through a verifiable digital footprint for barcodes, serial numbers or cryptographic seals, making it far easier to identify fakes and counterfeits at every step of the supply chain. There were concerns in the early stages of adoption that the anonymity granted by blockchain would facilitate greater criminal activity, especially in the area of money laundering. The evidence that existed at the time supported those concerns. Since then, however, studies have found that only 2% of bitcoin transactions can be tied to illicit activity and a 2020 survey of anti-laundering specialists predicted a decrease in use of cryptocurrencies for the same purpose. 3D printing Much has been made of the criminal potential of 3D printing. Conventional wisdom says 3D printing is a problem for law enforcement to manage, rather than a tool to be leveraged, particularly given its can be used to print weapons. Private sector firms and customs agencies around the world are developing 3D printing tools to turn the tables, such as tracking the distinct "digital fingerprints" left by individual printers and creating replicas of legitimate goods to spot counterfeits. Chris Clague, the editor of the report, says: "For all the benefits technology can bring to legitimate society, each new advance creates new opportunities for criminals to exploit and that of course include the international terrorist organisations and transnational organised crime networks that engage in illicit trade. As always when it comes to illicit trade, there are examples of cooperation and trust-building between the private sector, governments and international enforcement agencies, but there is still a lot of work left to be done." Download full report here. About The Economist Intelligence Unit The EIU is the thought leadership, research and analysis division of The Economist Group and the world leader in global business intelligence for executives. We uncover novel and forward-looking perspectives with access to over 650 expert analysts and editors across 200 countries worldwide. More information can be found on www.eiuperspectives.economist.com. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. About Philip Morris International Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products, while not risk-free, meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com. Contact Details The Economist Intelligence Unit Christopher Clague, Managing editor and Global editorial lead, Trade and globalisation +81 80-5677-8413 christopherclague@economist.com The Economist Intelligence Unit Briony Lin, Assistant marketing manager, Asia +852 2585 3843 brionylin@economist.com

March 17, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

TeamSnap Announces New Technology Partnership with NFL FLAG

TeamSnap

TeamSnap, the industry-leading sports management platform provider for youth sports, today announced a new technology partnership with NFL FLAG, the official flag football league of the National Football League (NFL) and the largest youth flag football organization in the United States. With a multi-year agreement, TeamSnap Tournaments will serve as the official tournament app of NFL FLAG. NFL FLAG organizes and operates 12 marquee tournaments in partnership with NFL clubs and eight expanded tournaments, NFL FLAG Opens, each year. This includes the NFL FLAG Bowl and NFL FLAG Championships at Pro Bowl which attract hundreds of teams from across the country. NFL FLAG is operated by Reigning Champs Experiences (RCX). TeamSnap is a long-time partner of Next College Student Athlete (NCSA), sister company to RCX. Both businesses are owned by Reigning Champs. “As the NFL FLAG Tournament Series continues to expand, we need the best technology partners to support our growing event infrastructure,” said Garland Cooper, Vice President of Event Operations for Reigning Champs Experiences (RCX). “TeamSnap’s customizable platform allows us the flexibility to create exactly what we need to help NFL FLAG provide a world class flag football experience.” “NFL FLAG is a fun and accessible way to get kids across the country involved in football. TeamSnap is thrilled to provide a comprehensive management solution to support NFL FLAG’s tournaments and scheduling needs,” said Dave DuPont, TeamSnap co-founder and CEO. “Reigning Champs has been a leader in the youth sports industry. We look forward to expanding our relationship by working with RCX and supporting the iconic NFL FLAG brand.” NFL FLAG is a NFL-licensed property of more than 1,600 leagues and 500,000 youth athletes across 50 states. TeamSnap supports more than 24 million users, 3 million unique teams and 19,000 clubs across 100 different sports. ABOUT TEAMSNAP Since its formation in 2009, TeamSnap has been single-mindedly focused on taking the work out of play. 24 million coaches, administrators, players and parents rely on TeamSnap’s powerful and easy-to-use tools for communication, scheduling, payment collection and registration, organizing every sport and group activity in the world. For more information, visit https://www.teamsnap.com/. About NFL FLAG NFL FLAG is an NFL-licensed property of more than 1,600 locally operated leagues and over 500,000 youth athletes across all 50 states. NFL FLAG is a fun and accessible non-contact program available for girls and boys ages 5-17. Players benefit by being physically active through non-contact, continuous action while learning the fundamentals of football as well as lessons in teamwork and sportsmanship. Reigning Champs Experiences (RCX) is the official operator of NFL FLAG. About Reigning Champs Experiences Reigning Champs Experiences (RCX) is the premier youth-sports experiences business, running and operating leagues, camps, combines, tournaments and events. Part of Reigning Champs LLC, RCX works with professional leagues, national governing bodies, sports-centric businesses and brands to reimagine youth sports experiences. RCX produces events with world-class partners including the NFL, Jr. NBA, NAIA, Rivals.com and the 2022 World Games. RCX is committed to improving the accessibility and inclusivity of sports by enhancing the youth sports experience and creating opportunities for all athletes to play. We believe sports have the power to transform lives and that every athlete should have the opportunity to experience the value of sports. For more information, visit www.rcxexperiences.com. Contact Details TeamSnap Greg McIsaac +1 416-458-3591 greg.mcisaac@teamsnap.com Reigning Champs Experiences (RCX) Lauren Pulte 248-885-2607 lpulte@reigningchamps.com Company Website https://www.teamsnap.com/

March 16, 2021 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

News Release

Location-Based Services Innovator GeoSolutions Alleges RICO Violations and Unfair Competition by Weibo Corporation, Sina Corporation, and Others

GeoSolutions

This is a statement issued by GeoSolutions: "Chinese media conglomerate Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) and its subsidiary Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ: WB) used their unusually complex corporate structure to steal technology to enhance and monetize their leading “Weibo” social network—a Chinese-based hybrid of Twitter and Facebook. This is according to a new lawsuit filed on March 15, 2021 in a California court. The scheme enabled the Chinese companies to avoid paying rightful revenues to the creators of the software, GeoSolutions B.V. and GeoSolutions Holdings N.V. ( GeoSolutions ), the companies who filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of the State of California in Santa Clara County. GeoSolutions’ location-based services (LBS) technology is the driving force behind Weibo’s nearly $12 billion market cap. The lawsuit alleges that Sina Corporation (Sina), Weibo Corporation (Weibo), and at least 10 other related entities and two individuals at the top of the organization, carried out an elaborate scheme over several years to pilfer the technology and know-how of GeoSolutions, particularly its effective integration of LBS into social networking. This was done through a series of misrepresentations using subsidiaries and Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) to conceal Sina’s agenda and play a corporate shell game to hide the generated revenue. “As numerous market observers and scholars have maintained, Sina’s complex corporate structure is neither honest nor transparent,” said Adam Fox, lead counsel for GeoSolutions. “Its peculiar corporate structure circumvents the law and hides the truth by design.” Central to the claims in the case is the fact that GeoSolutions entered into a series of agreements with various members of the larger Sina group of companies to allow access to GeoSolutions’ LBS technology and the know-how of its effective use in social networking. Sina then deployed this software on its Weibo platform without paying any remuneration. GeoSolutions has never been paid any compensation from Weibo and alleges that various other Sina companies are also using the LBS technology and claiming it as their own. LBS technology has become essential to most mobile device users. It powers user queries for restaurants or other businesses “near me,” enables “check ins” at a location, tracks packages ordered online, locates your ride-share driver, and much more. This makes it valuable to many companies who want to advertise or offer additional services to consumers. In a prospectus for investors ahead of the Weibo initial public offering (IPO) in April 2014, Sina credited the LBS platform as a substantial means to generate revenue from its Weibo app. Sina now claims it created the platform when in fact it is really GeoSolutions’ technology. Weibo’s market value has grown dramatically since its joint venture with GeoSolutions. At the time of its IPO, Weibo was valued at $3.6 billion. Today its market cap is nearly $12 billion. However, GeoSolutions has never received any compensation from Weibo. “Our experience and engineering know-how allowed us to identify the early market opportunity in mobile location and to invest in developing the GeoSolutions LBS platform. We had a growing client base, operational experience, and the ability to utilize our GyPSii subsidiary. We were extremely well positioned. It made sense that Sina and Weibo saw us as a target," said Jay Cahill, co-founder and general partner at Bluefin Technology Partners and former Vice President of Operations for GeoSolutions. “In the end, deception by Sina and Weibo and the harm it did to GyPSii, GeoSolutions, and our team was devastating. We lost jobs and severances. To see something into which so many of us put years of effort, know-how, and our hearts be so diminished is deeply saddening.” The “sham” corporate structure GeoSolutions alleges in the complaint reflects a series of Chinese VIEs. This case is the first time a United States court has been asked to rule on the legality of this structure, which numerous legal and financial commentators say is used to evade Chinese law that prevents foreign ownership of domestic businesses in certain industries. Some of these commentators also say the VIE structure overstates company assets and exposes investors to underappreciated risks. GeoSolutions claims that Sina used its network of VIEs to steal its technology and hide revenue from GeoSolutions. “Sina used a series of shell companies to hide GeoSolutions’ technology and keep the company from knowing how widely its software was being shared – and monetized – across the labyrinth of Sina entities,” added Fox. “GeoSolutions entered the agreements in good faith. Now the company has lost its intellectual property and its expected stream of income. Most of its employees had to be laid off due to Sina’s greed.” Sina Corporation reports ownership of more than 20 “significant subsidiaries and VIEs,” including Palo Alto-based SINA.COM Online, one of the other defendants. In its own 2019 annual report, Sina admits that its use of VIEs is intended to circumvent Chinese law while exercising (in theory) operational control over the business. In the same report, Sina states that it “cannot be sure that the PRC government would view our contractual arrangements to be in compliance with PRC licensing, registration, or other regulatory requirements.” It is this questionable, and some commentators argue illegal, corporate structure that allowed Sina and Weibo to misrepresent their intentions to GeoSolutions. Impartial third-party experts agree that GeoSolutions’ LBS technology was stolen. In December 2019, a distinguished international arbitration tribunal unanimously ruled in favor of GeoSolutions. Among other things, the award held that Sina Hong Kong Limited, one of many subsidiaries of Sina and also a defendant in this new lawsuit, facilitated the unlawful use of GeoSolutions’ technology. Sina Hong Kong was ordered to pay GeoSolutions damages of more than $115 million, plus interest. The award was limited to damages incurred by GeoSolutions from August 11, 2014 through August 10, 2017, the time period defined in the terms of a 2014 software license agreement. More than a year later, Sina Hong Kong has still not paid the award. This is despite the fact that Sina publicly announced shortly after the ruling that it had set the money aside. The tribunal’s ruling also concluded that “evidence shows that other Sina entities made use of the Licensed Software, had possession of servers on which the software was based, and controlled usage data.” These facts had been hidden from GeoSolutions until December 2018 when they were revealed in testimony compelled from Sina witnesses during the arbitration. The complaint filed by GeoSolutions on March 15 lists six causes of action against Weibo and Sina: 1) Declaratory Relief, 2) Violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961, et seq.); 3) Violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1836 et seq.); 4) Intentional Misrepresentation; 5) Negligent Misrepresentation; and 6) Unfair Competition (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200, et seq.). The other entities named as defendants in the suit are part of the web of VIE entities and include SINA.COM Online, Weibo R&D Limited, New Wave MMXV Ltd., Sina Hong Kong Limited, GyPSii (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Beijing Sina Internet Information Service Company Ltd., Beijing New Media Technology Information Company, Beijing Weimeng Technology Co., Ltd., Sina (Beijing) Information Technology Co. Ltd., SINA.COM Technology (China) Co., Ltd., and individuals Cao Guowei (aka Chao Guowei aka Charles Chao) and Wang Gaofei, respectively the CEOs of Sina Corporation and Weibo Corporation. Among the relief GeoSolutions is seeking are damages for all injuries suffered as a result of the defendants’ conduct, treble damages pursuant to RICO claims, disgorgement of wrongfully obtained profits, and injunctive relief prohibiting the defendants from engaging in the conduct described herein." To view the full complaint, visit www.GeoSolutionsTech.com. About GeoSolutions GeoSolutions Holdings N.V. and its subsidiary GeoSolutions B.V. (GeoSolutions) are the creators of location-based services (LBS) and social networking services (SNS) software, primarily for use on cell phones, laptops, notebooks, and other portable devices. LBS technology allows device users to search for and identify their contacts by location in real time. This functionality pioneered a significant, new functionality to SNS and created a way to monetize social media that is used extensively today across the world’s most popular platforms. For more information, go to www.GeoSolutionsTech.com. Contact Details GeoSolutions Melissa Arnoff kglobal for GeoSolutions +1 301-785-3329 GeoSolutions@kglobal.com Company Website https://geosolutionstech.com/

March 16, 2021 09:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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