In reviewing the Click2Gov breaches, I just discovered another one from October that I hadn’t posted on this site. Let’s remedy that now.
Statement on Click2Gov Data Security Incident
INDIO, CA (October 12, 2018) – Indio Water Authority (IWA) was informed in September of a cybersecurity incident potentially affecting the credit card information of customers who made a one-time water bill payment through Click2Gov, a third party that provides online payment support services to IWA and many public agencies across the country.
As soon as we were notified of the incident, we immediately shut down the IWA side of the online payment system and launched a thorough investigation with the software vendor and a third-party forensic firm. As a result of that investigation, we believe that the credit card information of customers who made one-time water bill payments through Click2Gov between January 1, 2017, and August 13, 2018, could have been impacted. The breach may have included their name, payment card number, expiration date, and security code. Other details such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license information is not entered or stored on Click2Gov and is not part of this incident.
Data security is of critical importance to IWA, and we take any matter related to our customers’ information seriously. From the start, our top priority was to quickly identify and notify customers who may be affected and assist them in every way possible. The forensic and legal review process is now complete and notifications prepared in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission guide to data breach response have been mailed to customers who may have been impacted.
To prevent another incident and better protect the personal information entrusted to us, IWA is enhancing existing security protocols, re-educating vendors on the importance of timely fixes of vulnerabilities and verifying those fixes. In addition, IWA recently added security features to its Web Portal to protect customers’ privacy, providing a more secure and improved customer experience.
We deeply regret any inconvenience and stress this incident may have caused some of our customers. Please be assured that we will continue to be vigilant in working to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future.