City of Waco

The City of Waco operates as a municipal government entity within the United States of America, providing essential public services to its residents. Core municipal functions include managing utilities such as water services, evidenced by its operation of an online water bill payment system. This system facilitated customer transactions through a third-party portal known as Click2Gov. The city serves its local population within the Waco jurisdiction.

A significant cybersecurity incident impacted the City of Waco's online water bill payment operations. In November 2019, attackers exploited a vulnerability within the Click2Gov software platform, compromising the payment data of customers who used the online portal during the breach period. This incident affected over 8,000 customers, exposing sensitive financial information. Notably, in-person credit card transactions remained unaffected, indicating the breach was isolated to the specific third-party online portal. The city responded by notifying impacted individuals via mailed letters, advising them to monitor for fraud, and establishing a dedicated support hotline. The software vendor confirmed resolving the vulnerability after similar breaches were reported across other municipalities using Click2Gov, highlighting a recurring pattern of attacks targeting this specific payment platform. This event underscores the cybersecurity risks municipalities face when utilizing third-party vendors for critical online services.