NowVertical Group Inc. announced a new product offering, partnership, and first customer in response to the US Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security Directive for Critical Pipeline Owners and Operators (Security Directive). NOW announce the launch of a new product offering, helping midstream oil and gas companies navigate regulatory processes. The NOW Solutions midstream compliance offering will guide operators through the audit, identification, and mitigation process for security vulnerabilities, guaranteeing fast and affordable compliance with the TSA's requirements to avoid the risk of future fines.

NOW Solutions' offering leverages years of infrastructure and security experience to overcome the regulatory process and guarantee organizations are future-proofed for compliance issues down the line. Building on past successes in water infrastructure and oil and gas regulatory requirements, NOW's teams help augment, guide, and advise customers by bringing industry-specific expertise in a faster and wholly compliant way. With its new offering, NOW has secured a formal partnership with Twin Eagle Solutions to bring combined cybersecurity and infrastructure security expertise and capabilities to market.

The teams will work together to execute TSA's critical facilities audit requirements and process implementation for customers throughout the industry. NOW Solutions Announces Initial Customer for New Compliance Product Offering; NOW has been engaged for its new compliance offering by a midstream energy company, whose operations include the pipeline transportation of crude oil and natural gas from some of the United States' most prolific basins in the Rocky Mountains, Upper Midwest, and Appalachian regions to markets in the Rockies, the Midwest, and eastern Ohio. Members of the NOW Solutions team have worked with the customer for several years and have been contracted to help expedite the new security auditing requirements for their critical facilities.

The initial contract term lasts through Third Quarter 2022 and will cover over 60 security assessments spanning five US states. Security Directive for Critical Pipeline Owners and Operators; First announced in 2021, the Security Directive was established in response to cyber-attacks on the Colonial Pipeline, which caused temporary gasoline shortages across much of the East Coast. This new initiative requires critical pipeline owners and operators to audit, identify, and establish updated security protocols for their most at-risk pipeline functions and help mitigate the risk of future cyber or physical attacks.

The first step involves owners and operators identifying critical infrastructure as part of their operations by the end of May. These companies will then be required to complete their vulnerability assessments over the next two years, after which they can move to implement the necessary security protocol and processes.