CYBERNEWS SPOTLIGHT AWARD TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. Nomination form

To enter, please complete and submit a nomination form (one per product/ service nominated) by August 23 (inclusive). When submitting the nomination form, you will be required to pay the entry fee(s) specified in Section 4 of these Cybernews SPOTLIGHT Award Terms & Conditions (hereinafter, the “Award Terms & Conditions”).

The entrant is responsible for ensuring that:

  • the entrant is duly authorised to submit the nomination form, including all information and/or materials provided, on behalf of the nominee;
  • all information and materials provided are truthful, accurate, complete, and not misleading or fraudulent; and
  • the nominated product and/ or service meets all eligibility requirements specified in Section 3 of the Award Terms & Conditions.

Entry will be considered made by the authorized account holder of the email address used at the time of entry.

The use of automated systems, bots, or any other similar means to submit a nomination form is strictly prohibited. It must be submitted manually by an individual.

2. Eligibility

To be eligible for nomination, a product/ service must:

  • be new or materially updated since September 2025 and exhibited on the show floor at IFA 2026;
  • have been launched prior to the submission of the nomination form and be commercially available;
  • fall within the Award categories listed below;
  • comply with all applicable rules, laws, regulations, and industry standards;
  • not infringe any third-party rights, including intellectual property rights;
  • not be subject to any financial, trade, or similar sanctions or restrictions; and
  • not be involved in any ongoing legal disputes.

Award will honor the most valuable products and services across multiple categories, such as:

  • Privacy
  • Cybersecurity
  • Enterprise Technology
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Connected Devices
  • Smart Home Security
  • Data Protection
  • Innovation

The Award Organizer reserves the right to:

  • add, remove, merge, or rename Award categories;
  • reassign nominations to more appropriate categories; and
  • decline to announce winner(s) where nominees do not meet the required standard as determined by the Award Organizer editorial team.

Entities and individuals that are materially affiliated with, control or are controlled by the Award Organizer are not eligible to participate in the Cybernews SPOTLIGHT Award (hereinafter, the “Awards”).

3. Award Organizer

The Awards are organized by adtech lt, UAB, having company code 305084400, and registered address at Vokiečių St. 26, LT-01130, Vilnius, Lithuania (hereinafter, the “Award Organizer”). The Awards are in no way associated and/or affiliated with IFA (i.e., Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin). The Award Organizer is an independent award provider, with independent judgments made by its experienced editorial team(s) across technology-focused publications.

4. Entry fee(s)

Standard entry fee is $590 per product/service, per Award category for which you submit a nomination form for consideration.

After payment of the Standard entry fee and acceptance (confirmation) of the nomination form by the Award Organizer, the nominee will:

  • be listed in the article published by the Award Organizer featuring the Award nominees;
  • have its nominated product or service reviewed by the Award Organizer’s experienced editorial team(s) (as part of the evaluation process);
  • have the opportunity to download a fully licensed digital nominee badge for in-house marketing purposes. This badge is an intellectual property of the Award Organizer. It may be used only until the winner announcements on August 26, 2026 (inclusive).

Premium entry fee is $990 per product/service, per Award category for which you submit a nomination form for consideration.

After payment of the Premium entry fee and acceptance (confirmation) of the nomination form by the Award Organizer, the nominee will, in addition to the benefits included under the Standard entry fee:

  • receive a dedicated section or paragraph about its nominated product or service in the article published by the Award Organizer featuring the Award nominees; and
  • be featured in one social media reel published by the Award Organizer during the nomination period specifically relating to the nominee.

The Standard entry fee covers the administrative costs of the Awards and the use of copyrighted materials, included in the nominee badges available to all participants. The Premium entry fee includes additional features intended to enhance the nominee’s visibility. Where required by applicable law and/or platform rules, such features will be disclosed and identified as having a promotional nature.

Payment of either the Standard or Premium entry fee shall have no influence on the outcome of the nominated product or service review conducted by the Award Organizer’s editorial team(s), and on the outcome of the Awards. Payment of Premium entry fee does not increase the chances of winning. All submissions are assessed solely on the basis of the evaluation criteria.

Entities and/or individuals may enter numerous products/services for consideration, provided they complete the relevant nomination form(s) and pay the necessary entry fee(s).

Entry fees are non-refundable, except in the event that the Awards are cancelled for reasons not attributable to the entrant(s) and/or nominee(s). If such cancellation occurs, a refund will be limited to the entry fee(s) actually paid. The Award Organizer will inform entrants of any cancellation by email. In the event of any dispute regarding the amount of any refund, the Award Organizer’s decision shall be final.

5. Evaluation Criteria

Products/services will be evaluated against the following criteria:

  • Innovation – originality of the technology, concept or approach.
  • Industry Relevance – relevance to current cybersecurity, privacy and technology trends.
  • Product Vision – clarity of the problem being addressed and the proposed solution.
  • Demonstrated Capabilities – features and functionality demonstrated through the submitted materials.
  • Potential Industry Impact – potential contribution to the future development of the industry.

Evaluation will be based solely on the Award Organizer's editorial team(s) assessment of information and materials submitted by participants, including product descriptions, specifications, images, videos, demonstrations, and other supporting materials. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, products will not be subject to hands-on evaluation, technical or laboratory testing.

The Award Organizer’s editorial team(s) may assign different weightings to each criterion depending on the Award category.

The Award Organizer reserves the right to:

  • request additional information and/or supporting evidence.

6. Disqualification

The Award Organizer reserves the right to reject, or disqualify any nomination that is incomplete, inaccurate, misleading, fraudulent, does not meet eligibility requirements, is submitted in breach of the Award Terms & Conditions, or otherwise objectively incapable of being properly processed or evaluated.

If a nomination is rejected or disqualified, the Award Organizer will notify the entrant by email. The Award Organizer's decision regarding any rejection or disqualification will be final and binding.

7. Award Outcome

Winners of the Awards will be notified by email on August 26, 2026.

Each winner will have the opportunity to use the winner’s badge under a separate licensing agreement with the Award Organizer. The winners’ badges are the intellectual property of the Award Organizer. Licensing fee(s) will apply.

By submitting the nomination form and/or participating in the Awards, all entrants and/or nominees acknowledge and agree that the Awards results reflect the independent opinion and assessment of the Award Organizer’s editorial team, based on the evaluation criteria set out in Section 5 of these Award Terms & Conditions. Accordingly, nominees agree not to raise any claims, objections, or disputes in relation to the Awards results.

The decisions of the Award Organizer’s editorial team are final and binding. We do not offer refunds for unsuccessful outcomes.

The Award outcome does not constitute our endorsement, warranty, or guarantee of the winners’ products and/or services.

8. Publicity

By submitting a nomination form, the entrant grants the Award Organizer a non-exclusive, world-wide royalty-free right to use the information and materials submitted as part of the nomination for the purposes of administering, running, promoting, and reporting on the Awards. This includes the right to:

  • create and publish articles (including the nominated product/service review articles), news items, videos, social media posts, reels, newsletters, and other promotional or editorial content relating to the nominee, the nominated product or service, and/or the Awards;
  • announce the winners of the Awards and publish the articles about them;
  • use the nominee's company name, product and/or service name, logos, trademarks, images, screenshots, and other non-confidential materials submitted with the nomination or otherwise made publicly available by the nominee; and
  • otherwise use, reproduce, publish, display, make derivative works, distribute, and communicate such information and materials in connection with the administration, conduct, promotion, marketing, publicity, and historical records of the Awards, in any media or format.

However, any information expressly identified by an entrant as confidential shall be treated as such.

9. Liability

The Award Organizer shall not be liable for:

  • any nomination forms, including the materials provided, that are incomplete, inaccurate, misleading, fraudulent, corrupted, duplicated, delayed, or otherwise not successfully received, regardless of the cause, and which are therefore rejected, disregarded, or disqualified.
  • any interruption, delay, failure, malfunction, error, omission, corruption, incompatibility, or unavailability affecting the nomination form submission process or any related systems, including, without limitation, technical, electronic, software, hardware, network, internet, telecommunications, platform, or system failures, data transmission delays or failures, or any other event beyond the Award Organizer's reasonable control;
  • any loss, damage, cost, or expense arising out of or in connection with the submission of a nomination form and/or participation in the Award, except to the extent that such loss, damage, cost, or expense results directly from the Award Organizer's gross negligence or willful misconduct. In no event shall the Award Organizer be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential loss or damage.

10. Indemnification

Entrant and the nominee agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Award Organizer, its parent company, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, and employees, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or in connection with: (i) any breach by the entrant and/or nominee of these Award Terms & Conditions; (ii) any alleged or actual violation by the entrant and/or nominee of applicable laws, rules, or regulations or third-party rights; and (iii) any other acts or omissions of the entrant and/or nominee constituting gross negligence, fraud, or willful misconduct.

11. Acceptance of Award Terms & Conditions

Submission of a nomination form constitutes acceptance of these Award Terms & Conditions, and both the nominee and the entrant agree to be bound by their provisions.

12. Amendments

The Award Organizer reserves the right to amend these Award Terms & Conditions at any time where necessary to ensure the fair and effective administration of the Awards. Such changes (if any) will be communicated to all entrants by email.

13. Privacy

Personal data (if any) collected during the nomination and/or Awards process will be processed by the Award Organizer as data controller solely for the purposes of administering, managing, and running the Awards, including but not limited to, communication with entrants/nominees, nominated product and/or service evaluation activities, winner announcements and/or the promotion of the Awards. The Award Organizer will process such personal data in accordance with all applicable data protection laws.

By submitting the nomination form, the entrant confirms that it has the necessary rights to provide any personal data submitted and that it has obtained all required consents from the relevant data subjects.

14. Governing law and jurisdiction

Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Award Terms & Conditions and/or the Awards overall shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Award Organizer’s jurisdiction.

15. Contact info

Questions regarding the Awards and/or these Award Terms & Conditions should be directed to the Award Organizer at [email protected].