VersaBank's Washington, DC-Based Subsidiary, DRT Cyber, Enters Agreement with EzoTech, Expanding Cybersecurity Offering with AI Penetration Testing

LONDON, ON, July 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - VersaBank (TSX: VB) ("VersaBank" or the "Bank") today announced that its wholly-owned, Washington, DC-based subsidiary, DRT Cyber Inc., ("DRT Cyber") has entered into a reseller and development agreement with EzoTech Inc. ("EzoTech"), developers of the world's first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Autonomous cybersecurity penetration testing platform. Penetration testing is the process of simulating a cyber attack against an organization's assets and infrastructure to identify both strengths and weaknesses in security controls and processes to help protect against real-world cyber threats.

Under the reseller component of the agreement, DRT Cyber will expand its offerings to existing and future customers throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe with an AI-powered, automated, on-demand penetration testing platform. Under the development component of the agreement, DRT Cyber will leverage EzoTech's advanced AI Cyber Security technology and capabilities to develop and launch what it expects will be the world's first AI-powered, automated and continuous cyber security posture reporting platform for organizations of all types and sizes.

"Our agreement with EzoTech is a significant step forward in our strategy to expand DRT Cyber's suite of cybersecurity offerings to complement existing services to our clients, as well as attract new clients, as we leverage our acquisition of Digital Boundary Group (DBG) last November," said David Taylor, President and CEO of VersaBank and DRT Cyber. "DRT Cyber's acquisition of DBG provided a tremendous platform to build one of the pre-eminent cybersecurity businesses in North America; DRT Cyber boasts a client roster of national and multinational corporations, as well as government entities, including infrastructure assets, numerous police departments in the U.S., national retailers, and many others.  The addition of AI-powered, automated penetration testing, followed by a continuous, automated cyber security reporting solution, designed for organizations large and small, will significantly help expand DRT's client roster, as the identification of cyber security vulnerabilities moves to the top of the priority list for IT departments globally."

"We are very pleased to be working with the team at DRT Cyber," said Xristos Silaidis, President and CEO, EzoTech.  "Our fully autonomous, AI-driven penetration testing platform is licensed and deployable in a number of ways: as a stand-alone testing platform, as an autonomous test in combination with manual testing resources, and also ultimately as the engine for continuous reporting at the executive and working levels, to deliver a high level of confidence to organizations that their systems, networks and assets are well positioned to thwart cyber threats that are growing globally at an accelerating rate."

"Businesses, governments and other entities are especially vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, continuous changes in infrastructure, patch management issues and incorrect or stale security configurations, all of which can result in unforeseen security consequences that may not be readily apparent," said Gurpreet Sahota, Chief Operating Officer, DRT Cyber.  "In today's IT environment, in which systems are being continuously deployed, updated or moved, continuous cyber security testing is essential to ensure that an organization's IT systems are resistant to adversarial attacks 24/7, every week of the year. Our goal is to provide an automated and continuous cyber security reporting solution that not only is best-in-class for large organizations but also fits the IT budgets for the mass market of small-to-mid-size businesses and government entities."

ABOUT EZOTECH

EzoTech delivers Tanuki, the world's first agentless, fully autonomous AI driven penetration-testing platform that completes a true Pentest to allow customers to fully harden their networks as well as assess and reduce their corporate cybersecurity risk. Tanuki is delivered with a collective knowledge of threats, vulnerabilities, and exploits and equipped with state-of-the-art hacking techniques. It acts like a real attacker or advanced Pentester to increase the frequency and consistency of their testing. 

The platform is SaaS based and runs remotely on the Cloud to analyze, identify, and focus remediation efforts on real vulnerabilities. Hundreds of security professionals as well as customers from the largest enterprise to the mid-market around the world use Tanuki to perform continuous penetration tests that harden their entire organization networks.

ABOUT DRT CYBER

DRT Cyber Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of VersaBank, was formed to identify significant cyber security threats and to develop innovative solutions to address the rapidly growing volume of cyber threats challenging financial institutions, multi-national corporations and government entities on a daily basis. DRT Cyber operates from Washington D.C. and services clients globally. DRT Cyber's first offering, VersaVault®, is the world's first digital bank vault built for clients holding digital assets and blockchain-based assets, providing impenetrable world class security, privacy of secured keys and client-centric access flexibility. Digital Boundary Group (DBG), a DRT Cyber subsidiary, is one of North America's premier information technology (IT) security assurance services firms, providing corporate and government clients with a suite of IT security assurance services. DRT Cyber's vision is to provide governments and corporate organizations with a comprehensive suite of effective solutions that address the four fundamental components of cyber security: Assessment, Detection, Prevention and Privacy.

ABOUT VERSABANK

VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered bank with a difference. VersaBank became the world's first fully digital financial institution when it adopted its highly efficient business-to-business model using its proprietary state-of-the-art financial technology to profitably address underserved segments of the Canadian banking market in the pursuit of superior net interest margins while mitigating risk. VersaBank obtains all of its deposits and provides the majority of its loans and leases electronically, with innovative deposit and lending solutions for financial intermediaries that allow them to excel in their core businesses. In addition, leveraging its internally developed IT security software and capabilities, VersaBank established wholly owned, Washington, DC-based subsidiary, DRT Cyber Inc. to pursue significant large-market opportunities in cyber security and develop innovative solutions to address the rapidly growing volume of cyber threats challenging financial institutions, multi-national corporations and government entities on a daily basis.

VersaBank's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol VB and its Series 1 Preferred Shares trade under the symbol VB.PR.A.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements in this press release that relate to the future are forward-looking statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, many of which are out of our control. Risks exist that predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as several important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the strength of the Canadian economy in general and the strength of the local economies within Canada in which we conduct operations; the effects of changes in monetary and fiscal policy, including changes in interest rate policies of the Bank of Canada; changing global commodity prices; the effects of competition in the markets in which we operate; inflation; capital market fluctuations; the timely development and introduction of new products in receptive markets; the impact of changes in the laws and regulations pertaining to financial services; changes in tax laws; technological changes; unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings; unexpected changes in consumer spending and savings habits; the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and our anticipation of and success in managing the risks implicated by the foregoing. For a detailed discussion of certain key factors that may affect our future results, please see our annual management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the year ended October 31, 2020.

The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The forward-looking information contained in this document and the related MD&A is presented to assist our shareholders in understanding our financial position and may not be appropriate for any other purposes. Except as required by securities law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that is contained in this document and related MD&A or made from time to time by the Bank or on its behalf.

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