A data breach could have compromised the payment information of 4,600 motorists who paid city-issued parking tickets through the city of Ames’ online payment system, the city announced in a press release. Ames information technology staff discovered a potential compromise in the city’s link to third party vendor Click2Gov on Nov. 18, and took the system offline for assessment; the payment system was brought back online on Nov. 20, the city reported. The breach may have included first and last names, mailing addresses, email addresses, and debit/credit card numbers. Affected drivers who paid tickets between Aug. 10 to Nov. 19 will be notified by mail and email, the city said. On Twitter, a network security analyst for Principal Financial Group noted previous news coverage of Click2Gov customer breaches: the software has been implicated in possible municipal breaches at Oxnard, California; the Village of Wellington, Florida; Goodyear, Arizona; and Thousand Oaks, California in 2018.
