Do I have to buy anything to win?
No. A free entry puts you in the grand-prize draw. Purchases earn guaranteed shop rewards plus a stated number of bonus entries, and anyone can get the same 25 bonus entries free with their first community submission. Every entry has identical odds.
Why is it a "sweepstakes" and not a "lottery" or "raffle"?
A lottery is prize + chance + payment. We remove the payment: there is always a free way in, and the free entry has the same odds per entry. Every entry you can earn by buying, you can also get free. Shop rewards involve no chance at all: hit the tier, get the reward. Skill-contest prizes are judged on merit, so they're not chance-based either.
Who is running this?
QSai LLC, a Texas limited liability company doing business as CISO Marketplace. Nitrokey, NovaCustom, YouTube, TikTok and Podbean are not sponsors and have no responsibility for this promotion; they supply the hardware or host our content, nothing more.
Where can I enter from?
Almost anywhere, 18+ (or the age of majority where you live). Everyone can enter the skill contest, make community submissions and earn shop rewards, and prizes ship worldwide (import duties are the winner's). The NitroPhone draw is open worldwide except in Italy, Brazil and mainland China, where chance draws need local government authorization; residents there can still win the skill contest. Not open at all in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Belarus or Quebec. Canadian winners answer a skill-testing question.
How are winners picked and told?
The NitroPhone draw is random, on November 5, 2026 from all eligible entries received by October 31, weighted by entries, read live on the podcast. Winners are emailed and have 7 days to respond and return a prize acceptance form; otherwise we redraw. Winner first names and state/country are posted here and read on the podcast.
Taxes?
Prizes are income to the winner. Under current US rules (2026), a prize worth $2,000 or more triggers an IRS Form 1099 and we'd need a W-9 from you; individual prizes here fall below that, but we'll still ask for a W-9 if the combined value you win crosses it. Winners outside the US are responsible for their own taxes and any import duty.
What do you do with my email?
You sign in with a free CISO Marketplace account, which verifies your email. We use your details to run the draw and contact winners. The newsletter is a separate checkbox and is never required to enter; unsubscribe anytime and you keep your entry. We don't sell the list. EU/UK entrants: our lawful basis is consent; email us to access or delete your data.
Can my employees / my MSP clients enter?
Yes. Anyone 18+ can enter with their own account, and each entrant gets a share link worth +1 entry per friend who enters (up to 25). QSai LLC staff and contractors, and the judges, are not eligible for prizes.
What if a prize runs out?
Shop rewards are digital or print-on-demand, so they don't run out. Draw and contest prizes are the fixed list on this page; if an item becomes unavailable we substitute one of equal or greater value.
What are the perks, and when do I get them?
Every entrant gets a free month of ThreatWatch News (10 publications plus Ask Cipher). If the unlock bar reaches 500, every entrant also gets 25 CISO Marketplace credits; at 750, a month of the CyberBrief AI newsletter. Weekly winners add three months of MicroSec Starter. All digital perks start November 1, 2026 and land on the CISO Marketplace account you entered with; you'll see them at my.cisomarketplace.com. Anyone who wins hardware we can't ship to them, or who prefers it, can take Practitioner membership time or credits of equal value instead.
Is the code combinable? Does hardware count?
CYBERAWARE26 is 20% off digital products and membership through Oct 31; one code per order, not combinable with member pricing. Hardware at securitygadgets.shop isn't discounted, but its full price counts toward your shop-reward tier.
