CBA Cyber Security Challenge

Building a safe and resilient digital world

CHALLENGE RULES

(the “Rules”)

Canadian Bankers Association Cyber Security Challenge

(the “Challenge”)

This Challenge is sponsored by The Canadian Bankers’ Association (the “Sponsor”).

The aim of these Rules is to set out the terms and conditions governing your participation in the Challenge. By registering for this Challenge, you fully and unconditionally agree to comply with these Rules. If you do not agree with any of these Rules, do not register for this Challenge and do not submit an entry.

  1. TERM

This Challenge begins on January 13, 2020, at 12:00 am EST and ends on May 17, 2020, at 5:00 pm EST. The Challenge will be accessible 24 hours a day on the dedicated Challenge website operated by Agorize at [https://www.agorize.com/challenges/cba-cyber-security-challenge] (“the Challenge website”), subject to possible IT maintenance operations and malfunctions. Dates and times in these Rules refer to Eastern Standard Time (EST).

  1. AGREEING TO THE RULES

Any eligible person who is registered on the Challenge website and enrols to participate in the Challenge (“Participant” or “You”), is required to review and accept these Rules. By accessing and accepting these Rules, You:

  • enter into a valid and enforceable contractual relationship with the Sponsor regarding participation in the Challenge. The registration and enrolment in the Challenge do not set up any subordination relationship between the Sponsor and the Participant, and
  • fully and unconditionally agree to comply with these Rules. Participants express their agreement by checking an online box while enrolling for the Challenge.

In case of non-respect of these Rules, the Participant will be immediately disqualified from the Challenge and no prize will be awarded.

  1. REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION IN THE CHALLENGE

To take part in the Challenge, we must have received your completed registration by March 1, 2020, 11:59 pm.

To register, the Participant must first have created a user account on the Challenge website, and must have truthfully and accurately completed required information, such as full name, email address, etc.

Any registration based on inaccurate, false or incomplete information will result in the Participant’s disqualification. Refusing collection, recording, use, and disclosure of their personal information or data that is strictly necessary to performing the Challenge will result in the Participant’s disqualification. The Participant is solely responsible for the information he/she provides in his/her registration. Any intentional or non-intentional mistake, anomaly or inconsistency, regarding this information, may result in the Participant’s disqualification. The Sponsor reserves the right to proceed with all necessary verifications regarding the Participant’s identity, postal and/or email address.

Deletion of a Participant’s user account on the Challenge website will be deemed as a withdrawal from the Challenge. In this case, the Participant, regardless of whether the deletion results from the Participant’s personal act or not, will not participate in the Challenge, and will not obtain any compensation.

You must also have accepted the Rules as well as the Terms and Conditions of Use and the Privacy Policy, during the creation of your user account and your registration in the Challenge. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy, and the Rules, the Rules will govern to the extent of such conflict or inconsistency.

Registration for and participation in the Challenge is free, with no purchase or payment obligation.

  1. ELIGIBILITY

This Challenge is open and offered solely to:

  • Student. Any Canadian resident (excluding Quebec residents) aged eighteen (18) years and/or with full legal capacity, who (i) is currently enrolled at a post-secondary institution in Canada or (ii) has recently graduated from a post-secondary institution in Canada less than 2 years before the current scholar year, with a student card to prove it. Each student may only participate once in each Challenge. If the Participant is a minor, you must provide this authorization signed by a parent or guardian in the name of the minor.

All the documents that may confirm the Participant’s eligibility will be required prior to awarding any prizes (e.g. identity document, student card, etc.).

This Challenge is not open to: employees and representatives, including contractors, interns or cooperative education students, of the Sponsor, employees and representatives, including contractors, interns or cooperative education students, of any of the Sponsor’s participating member financial institutions, or Agorize employees and representatives, including contractors, interns or cooperative education students, and members of their families.

This Challenge is void in jurisdictions where it is prohibited or restricted by law.

  1. PURPOSE OF THE CHALLENGE AND PARTICIPATION

Participation in the Challenge is individual (Individual Participant), or as a team.

  • Individual Participants must enter the Challenge in their individual capacities.
  • Individual Participants may elect to form a team (“Team”) of (1) to (4) members maximum. Each Team member must accept these Rules, by clicking a hyperlink through the Agorize interface. The Sponsor may disqualify any Team (and all its members) in the case where any one member has not accepted or violates these Rules.

The goal of the Challenge is for Participants to submit contributions (or projects) meeting the requirements determined by the Sponsor in the Challenge brief, and that are formalized by deliverables. The brief includes information regarding various deadlines, details of the prizes, Sponsor requirements, etc. (the “Brief”). The Brief is accessible through the Challenge website.

  1. DELIVERABLES

During the Challenge, Participants may upload any documents or other materials (such as texts, presentations, videos, etc.) relating to their project to the Challenge website in response and as a solution to the Sponsor’s Challenge (the “Deliverable”).

To be eligible, Deliverables must (i) address the specific issue set out in the Brief, (ii) be in a common digital format, such as, DOC, DOCX, PDF, PPT, PPTX, KEY, ODT, MP3, MPEG, MOV, MP4, and (iii) be in English or in French, and in general terms must to comply with these Rules.

If a Deliverable cannot be downloaded, is not in the right format or is incompatible, illegible, or unintelligible, the Deliverable may be disqualified.

By submitting a Deliverable, Participants represent and warrant that:

  • The Deliverable exclusively includes contributions from an Individual Participant, or Team;
  • Otherwise, if any content from a third party has been used in the development of the Deliverable, all rights, authorizations, and agreements necessary to submit the Deliverable and grant the rights mentioned herein have been obtained. The existence of uncredited third-party contributions in the Deliverable may result in the disqualification of the Deliverable and the related Participants;
  • No other individual and/or entity is entitled to claim any rights from the use of the Deliverable;
  • The content of the Deliverable does not and will not infringe or violate any rights of any third party or entity, including, without limitation, intellectual property rights, privacy, competition law, confidentiality, or any contractual or extracontractual right. All Deliverables suspected of breaching any law(s) and/or any third party’s right(s) may be ineligible; and
  • The Deliverable was developed exclusively for the Challenge and has not been submitted to any other hackathons, challenges or contests.

Participants are responsible for and shall bear any costs or expenses associated with preparing and submitting Deliverables. Participants assume all risk of damaged, lost, late, incomplete, invalid, incorrect or misdirected Deliverables.

  1. CHALLENGE PROCESS

Challenge Rounds. The Challenge consists of several rounds:

  • Round One. Deliverables will be accepted from January 13, 2020, 12:00 am to March 1, 2020, 11:59 pm. At the end of this Round, up to 50 winning Deliverables will be selected to proceed to Round Two.
  • Round Two. Deliverables will be accepted from March 15, 2020, 12:00 am to April 17, 2020, 11:59 pm. At the end of this Round, up to 30 winning Deliverables will be selected to proceed to the Final Round.
  • Final Round. Participants are not required to upload a Deliverable on the Challenge website for this Final Round.

Deliverable. If a Participant does not upload a Deliverable on the Challenge website before the deadline, this will be considered as a withdrawal from the Challenge. The Participant may not join the Challenge, and may not obtain any compensation from the Sponsor.

Selection Criteria. Deliverables will be judged according to the Selection Criteria, described below. You agree and acknowledge that the Challenge relies on your creativity, capacity, ability, and ingenuity to solve difficult problems. The Challenge does not depend, even partially, on chance or luck, and therefore should not be considered as a lottery.

Notification to Participants. Once the selection has been completed, Participants will be notified by email, phone, or by other means, at Sponsor’s discretion, of the results of each Round. The Sponsor will be free to alter the dates on which results are released should this become necessary due to the number of projects to be assessed. The ranking decided by the final jury will be announced on the day that presentations are made and will identify the Participants that are finalists.

    A. Round One

All Round One Deliverables must be received by Sponsor on or before March 1, 2020, 11:59 pm. Deliverables must meet the specifications set out in Section 6, above, and include:

  • A 5-slide presentation of their Project produced using the template available for download from the Challenge website, in PPT or PDF format.
  • An introduction to the Participant based on the questionnaire to be filled in in their participation area, accessible through their user account.

While the Round One, voting will proceed as follow:

Criteria based voting

“Criteria based” voting will take place from March 2, 2020, 12:00 am to March 13, 2020, 11:59 pm.

The voters (Sponsor, any of its participating member financial institutions, Agorize community or members of the general public) (the “Voters”) may evaluate and select the Deliverables based on their content and the following criteria:

  • Innovation: How innovative is the solution in its use of new or existing technology to solve the problem described in the Brief? Are there other solutions available and if so, how does this differentiate from them?
  • Relevancy: How well does the Deliverable respond to the specific need set out in the Brief?
  • Feasibility: How feasible is the solution to put into practice? Does the solution make sense financially? Will the solution be sustainable over the long term?
  • Impact: What is the scale of potential social impact? How broad is the impact? How many people will your solution reach? How significant is the impact?
  • Clarity: How well do you articulate your solution and the potential impact it will have on society?

Except as otherwise provided below and subject to enough Participants participating, the 50 Participants with the highest score at the end of this vote will win this vote and proceed to the next round.

Participants will be informed of the results of Round One by March 14, 2020, 11:59 pm.

    B. Round Two

All Round Two Deliverables must be received by Sponsor on or before April 17, 2020, 11:59 pm. Round Two Deliverables must meet the specifications set out in Section 6, above, and include:

A 10-slide presentation of their Project produced using the template available for download from the Challenge website, in PPT or PDF format.

Criteria based voting

“Criteria based” voting will take place from April 18, 2020, 12:00 am to April 24, 2020, 11:59 pm.

The voters (Sponsor, any of its participating member financial institutions, Agorize community or members of the general public) (the “Voters”) may evaluate and select the Deliverables based on their content and the following criteria:

  • Innovation: How innovative is the solution in its use of new or existing technology to solve the problem described in the Brief? Are there other solutions available and if so, how does this differentiate from them?
  • Relevancy: How well does the Deliverable respond to the specific need set out in the Brief?
  • Feasibility: How feasible is the solution to put into practice? Does the solution make sense financially? Will the solution be sustainable over the long term?
  • Impact: What is the scale of potential social impact? How broad is the impact? How many people will your solution reach? How significant is the impact?
  • Clarity: How well do you articulate your solution and the potential impact it will have on society?

Except as otherwise provided below and subject to enough Participants participating, the 30 Participants with the highest score at the end of this vote will win this vote and proceed to the next round.

Participants will be informed of the results of Round Two by May 1, 2020, 11:59 pm.

    C. Final Round

Participants who have been selected to participate in the Final Round will be directly notified by the Sponsor. In the event a Participant does not answer after the Sponsor has tried to contact him/her by email and by phone, the Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify this Participant. This disqualification shall not entitle the Participant to claim any kind of compensation from the Sponsor.

The Final Round consists of an oral presentation of the selected projects by the Participants. Participants are not required to upload a Deliverable to the Challenge website before the Final Round.

However, Participants must prepare a Deliverable which meets the specifications set out in Section 6 and which include:

  • A document describing their Project and presenting, for example, the problem it tackles, the proposed solution, its impact and its business model.

This document will be used as a presentation document during the oral presentation given by the Participants involved in the Project.

At the end of the Final Round, the jury will choose the winning projects and will rank the finalists.

  1. PRIZES

The prizes to be awarded to Challenge winners are subject to all of the following: They are awarded to the winner(s) of the Challenge and are subject to compliance with the following cumulative conditions:

  • The Deliverables comply with Section 6 (“Deliverables”);
  • Each Participant of a winning project complies with Sections 9 and 11;
  • It can be proven that the winning Participants fulfil the conditions of eligibility of Section 4.

Prize may not be awarded to winners who do not fulfill the above.

Subject to the winner(s) complying with these conditions, once confirmed by Sponsor, the winner(s) will receive the following:

  • Grand Prize of a cash prize of $2,000 CAD
  • Second Place Prize of a console / VR headset and $500 CAD cash prize
  • Third Place Prize of a gift card, $500 CAD value
  • Final attendees prize of bank branded swag.

Each member of a winning Participant Team will receive their own prize.

No assignment or transfer of prizes is allowed by a winner. If a potential winner cannot be reached, is unable to accept the prize or any portion of the prize for any reason, Sponsor shall have no further obligation to such potential winner. Sponsor will not replace any lost or stolen prizes after being awarded to winners. Winners will accept the prize “as it is”. Sponsor disclaims any warranty regarding the Prizes.

In the event a Participant (a winner) cannot be reached, by email or by phone, for more than three (3) months after the first attempt to reach them was made, he/she will be deemed as having waived their right to claim the prize and will not be entitled to any prize or any kind of compensation.

If the prize as initially planned is unavailable, Sponsor will be free to substitute another prize of similar value. Any such decision is at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Any Participant who does not fulfil the conditions of Participation as provided in the Rules during their registration and/or at any time during the Challenge will be summarily disqualified from the Challenge without prior notice and will not be entitled to any prize. In any case that a prize is awarded to a Participant who does not meet the conditions of Participation when registering or throughout the duration of the Challenge, Sponsor reserves the right to require the Participant to return the awarded prize.

  1. COMMUNICATION

The Participant acknowledges and consents that Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions may promote the Challenge, worldwide for the duration of the Challenge and for a period of one (1) year following the Final Round using the Challenge for publicity, including for Sponsor’s and/or any of its participating member financial institutions’ advertising or other marketing purposes, by any means and through any format (website, advertising banners, social networks, newsletter, press release) now known or unknown to date, free of charge or for a consideration.

In particular, you consent to the using, by Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions, of your name and surname, your city and region of residence, the name of the Canadian institution in which you studied or in which you obtained your diplomas and other biographical information, your image, the information regarding the Prize (if you are a winner), and any personal information or data that you submit with your Deliverables as well as the content of your Deliverables relating to the Challenge.

As an example, each Participant authorizes the Sponsor using the photographs taken during the Final to disseminate them via any communication medium.

Such use does not entitle the winner to any other payment than the Prize he/she received. The Sponsor agrees to cease using the aforementioned elements in connection with the Participant at the end of the aforementioned period.

  1. CONFIDENTIALITY

The Sponsor has no obligation to keep the information contained in the Deliverables confidential. In general terms, when submitting any Deliverables, the Participants understand, agree and accept that any information contained therein may be publicly disclosed by the Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions.

If you are a prize winner, the Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions may request that you execute a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement for the purpose of entering into negotiations regarding the further development of your project, as described in your Deliverable. Such confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement will be directed to your Deliverable and all intellectual property that it may contain.

Furthermore, Participants acknowledge that the Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions may currently or in the future be developing information internally, or receiving information from other parties, that is similar to the information contained in any of the projects. Accordingly, nothing herein shall prohibit the Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions from independently acquiring, developing, or having developed for it, products, concepts, systems, services, or techniques that are similar to or compete with the products, concepts, systems or techniques contemplated by or embodied in any Deliverable.

The Participants recognize that other Participants, individuals or entities may have provided the Sponsor or others, or made public, or may in the future submit, or make public, content that is the same or similar to any piece of information contained in any of the projects. Hence, the Participants acknowledge, agree and accept that the Sponsor and/or any of its participating member financial institutions shall have the right to use such same or similar materials, and that the Participants will not be entitled to any compensation arising from the Sponsor’s and/or any of its participating member financial institutions’ use of such materials.

  1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Definitions. For the purposes of this section,

  • "Intellectual Property Rights" refers to intellectual property rights, throughout the world, whether registered or not, including any trademarks, industrial designs, copyright or other rights over a brand, a design or a model, a patent and, more generally, any element, (including trade secrets and know-how), that may be protected by national and/or international laws or conventions on intellectual property.
  • Previous Rights” refer to any Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Participants before the start date of the Challenge
  • Creations” refer to any Intellectual Property Rights, including any software (including source and object code software), database, technical specifications, text, design, model, information, knowledge, method, process or product, as well as any resulting elements and/or processes likely or otherwise to be protected according to national and/or international laws or conventions on intellectual property developed by any Participant as a part of any submitted Deliverable.

Warranty of non-infringement. Participant represents and warrants to the Sponsor and its participating member financial institutions that:

(i) he/she owns all right, title and interest, including Intellectual Property Rights in and to all Creations; and

(ii) he/she has obtained all rights and permissions necessary, including under applicable laws, including to grant the rights granted herein, for the Sponsor and its participating member financial institutions to use Deliverables.

Each Participant represents and warrants: (i) that his/her contribution is original and unprecedented; (ii) that it do not infringe upon the rights, including copyright or any other Intellectual Property Rights of any third party; (iii) that all the elements of which his/her submissions are formed, as well as all pieces of contributions and information communicated in the submission presentation documents are accurate, reliable and complete; and (iv) that the submission of the relevant Deliverables does not constitute an act of unfair competition of any kind.

In connection with the submission of each Deliverable, Participants will clearly indicate the source and details of any portions of the Deliverable that are not Creations.

Liability. The Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions cannot be held liable for any infringement in connection with the Deliverable (including any Creations). Each Participant shall indemnify the Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions against any disturbance, action, claim, opposition and demand or eviction attempt from any third party in connection with any Creation or Deliverables, including use by the Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions in respect of access and use of Deliverables (including any Creations comprising thereof).

Ownership of Creation Forming Part of Deliverables; License to Third Party Intellectual Property Forming Part of the Deliverables

By taking part in the Challenge, the Participant acknowledges that ownership of the Creations and use of the Deliverables is a material component of the consideration the Sponsor receives in hosting and sponsoring the Challenge. Accordingly, the Participant hereby assigns all right, title and interest (including all Intellectual Property Rights) in and to all Creations and Deliverables to the Sponsor and irrevocably waives all of its moral rights thereto in favour of the Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions. The Participant agrees that upon request of the Sponsor, the Participant will execute such further documents as may be reasonably necessary to confirm the Sponsor’s (and/or its participating member financial institutions’, if the Sponsor’s ownership interest is subsequently assigned thereto) ownership of all right, title and interest (including Intellectual Property Rights) in and to all Creations and Deliverables.

Without limiting the foregoing, the Participant grants a perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, sublicensable, transferable, fully-paid up, royalty free and worldwide license for the Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions to access, use, reproduce, distribute, sell and publish the Deliverables (other than the Creations comprising thereof, which the Participant has assigned to the Sponsor).

  1. MODIFICATION OF RULES, SUSPENSION AND CANCELLATION OF THE CHALLENGE

Update of the Rules. The Sponsor reserves the right, to amend these Rules at any time, including the Challenge duration in case of operational imperatives, without prior notice to the Participants regarding the enforcement or the validity of these amendments. The Participants are encouraged to consult these Rules regularly. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Participants expressly waive all claims or disputes related to any amendment to these Rules by the Sponsor.

Should any paragraph of these Rules be declared or judged illegal, unenforceable or void by a court decision, the paragraph in question will be considered null and void, but all other unaffected paragraphs will be enforced within the limits of the law.

Challenge Cancellation or Suspension. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its discretion, to (i) cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Challenge and these Rules, for any reason, including if not enough Participants participate, at any time and without any liability, and (ii) to limit or restrict participation in the Challenge. The Sponsor and its participating member financial institutions will not be held liable for the modification, cancellation or suspension of the Challenge and no compensation or remuneration will be due to the Participants.

  1. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

The Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions will in no way be held liable in the event of breakdown or failure, regardless of the cause, of any telecommunications network used that causes the Participants difficulty in or prevents the Participants from identifying themselves on or gaining access to the Challenge website.

The Participants agree that the Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions, their respective affiliates (if any) and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, representatives and agents (“Released parties”) will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be released and held harmless by Participants for any claims, liabilities, or causes of action of any kind or nature for any injury, loss or damages of any kind including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages to persons, including without limitation disability or death. Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the Challenge website and in connection with the Challenge is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Some jurisdictions may not allow the limitations or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages or exclusion of implied warranties, in which case such limitation or exclusion shall apply only to the extent permitted by the law in the relevant jurisdiction.

Participation in the Challenge implies acknowledgment and acceptance of the characteristics, limits, and risks of the internet and related technologies, particularly with regards to performance, response time, security of software and computer equipment against various potential attacks, such as viruses, logic bombs or Trojans, and loss or misuse of data. As a result, the Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions will not be held liable in any way for any damage incurred by the Participants arising from these characteristics, limits and risks, which the Participants accept by registering and taking part in the Challenge.

The Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions will not, in any case, be held liable for damages resulting from faults with or delays in the submission of deliverables by the Participants, including refusal to accept these deliverables as a consequence of their submission outside the deadlines set out in the Rules, from faults with or delays to the sending of any emails by the Participant sent as part of the Challenge, or from any alterations made to the deliverables independently of the Sponsor.

The Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions will not, in any case, be held liable for damages resulting from services provided by a third party relating to the prizes.

The Sponsor and/or its participating member financial institutions will not be held liable for the consequences of a Participant’s disqualification from the Challenge as a result of their violation of these Rules.

  1. PERSONAL INFORMATION

Participation in the Challenge requires the communication and processing (collection, use and/or disclosure) of the Participant's personal information or data as described in these Rules and the Privacy Policy.

The purposes of the communication and processing are:

  • To meet the organization of the Challenge needs
  • To organize the intermediation between the Participant and the Sponsor and the participating member financial institutions to ensure identification, communication and preservation of the exchanges with the Participant and
  • To promote the Challenge as described in the Rules

By participating in the Challenge, the Participant consents to the communication and processing of their personal information or data as described in these Rules and the Privacy Policy. This section does not limit any other consent(s) that a Participant may provide the Sponsor or others in relation to the collection, use and/or disclosure of their personal information or data.

  1. CLAIMS

Any Participant’s claims arising from the Challenge should be addressed no later than thirty (30) days following the Challenge end date to dcater@cba.ca. All claims must include: (i) the Participant’s complete contact details (name, address, email address and phone number); (ii) the name of the Challenge; and (iii) a clear and detailed explanation for the claim.

  1. THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARY

Participant acknowledges and agrees that the Sponsor’s participating member financial institutions are third party beneficiaries of these Rules, and that such member financial institutions will have the right to enforce these Rules against the Participant as a third party beneficiary thereof.

  1. APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTES RESOLUTION

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Challenge and any action related thereto shall be governed by the laws of Ontario and, as applicable, the laws of Canada applicable therein.

In case of persistent litigation beyond a period of fifteen (15) days after the Participant has filed a claim, the Sponsor and the Participant undertake to submit their dispute to an amicable conciliation prior to any legal proceedings. The party wishing to initiate conciliation shall inform the other party by means of a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt in which it will inform of its intentions and will explain the cause. If no agreement is reached between the parties within thirty (30) days after receipt of the registered letter, the parties regain their freedom of action.

In case of persistent disagreement on the application or interpretation of the Rules, and in the absence of an amicable settlement, any dispute that may arise between the parties, will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Toronto, Ontario courts to which the parties expressly grant jurisdiction, even in the case of multiple defendants, in summary proceedings, appeal by guarantee or by motion.

In case of any inconsistencies or conflicts between the English Rules and French Rules, the English Rules shall prevail.