Last updated: October 23, 2026, 1:31 AM ET.
Columbia, South Carolina’s online city services went down after a network security incident disclosed Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The MyColaSC service-request app and online functions for business licensing, permitting, parks, planning, GIS, and animal services were disrupted. Police, fire, 911, Columbia Water, and the payment center, including online payment services, stayed operational. No full restoration has been announced as of this update.
If MyColaSC is down for you, call 803-545-3300 to report the concern by phone. The city gave residents that number for issues typically submitted through the platform while MyColaSC is impacted.
MyColaSC is the city’s free service-request platform: residents use it to report non-emergency issues — potholes, fallen trees, damaged park equipment, broken streetlights, and other local concerns — and track the request online, according to the City of Columbia.
Is MyColaSC down right now?
Yes, as far as the public record shows, apart from one reopening detail below. The City of Columbia disclosed a network security incident on Tuesday, October 20, after city technology staff detected suspicious activity on the municipal network. The city notified the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). On October 21, the city said SLED is leading the investigation and that the city had no additional updates at that time, as reported by WACH. WIS reported on October 21 that Animal Services was set to reopen Friday, October 23, at noon — the only reopening detail reported so far. That does not mean every service is back, only that no full restoration has been announced.
Residents who cannot use MyColaSC were directed to report non-emergency service requests by phone, at 803-545-3300. The city’s Planning and Development Services notice put it plainly: the city is experiencing a network and system outage impacting access to permitting and other technology, and people with pressing permitting questions should contact the department by telephone.
What is down, and what still works?
The split matters, because the outage is partial. These are the services reported as disrupted (WACH, October 20):
- MyColaSC, the city’s service-request application
- Online business licensing
- Planning and Development Services, including permitting
- Parks and recreation online functions
- Geographic information systems (GIS)
- Animal services online functions
And these stayed operational, according to the city’s statement as reported by WACH on October 20:
- Police, fire, and 911 communications
- Columbia Water systems
- The payment center, including online payment services
That last point is the reassurance most residents need. The outage disrupted service requests and permitting, not the payment channel. Do not assume a bill went unpaid just because MyColaSC is unreachable; online payment services remained operational.
What should Columbia residents do right now?
Use the phone while the online systems are down: report non-emergency requests by phone at 803-545-3300, call Planning and Development for permitting, and keep paying online as normal, which stayed working. Do not trust outage-related messages asking for account details or payment.
- Report non-emergency service requests by phone at 803-545-3300 while MyColaSC stays unavailable, and keep a note of the reference you are given.
- Call the Planning and Development department directly for any pressing permitting question that cannot wait.
- Pay online through the city’s payment channel, which stayed operational through the incident, according to the city’s statement as reported by WACH on October 20.
- Ignore unsolicited messages that claim to fix the outage, ask for account details, or link to a supposed city portal.
- Check the city’s Planning and Development notice for the next status update before assuming services are back.
Step 4 deserves emphasis. Outages are prime material for phishing: a message that mentions the Columbia outage and asks you to log in, pay a fee, or download a fix is not coming from the city. The city has directed residents to phone contact, not to links in messages.
Is this a data breach?
Not as far as anyone has said. City officials have not said whether personal information was compromised, and no ransomware claim and no attacker identity has been established in the available statements. That is simply a gap in what is known. Treat this as a service-disruption incident until the city or SLED says otherwise. If a data-compromise statement appears later, this article will be updated on the same page.
TechReview analysis: the pattern across three municipal incidents
The table below is our own comparison, built only from the confirmed details of each incident. The pattern is the story: in all three, emergency services stayed up while citizen-facing online services went down. Columbia is the only one of the three where officials explicitly confirmed online payments kept working.
| Incident | Date | Citizen services down | Emergency services | Payments | Data theft confirmed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia, SC | Oct 20, 2026 | MyColaSC, licensing, permitting, parks, planning, GIS, animal services | Up | Up (payment center + online payments) | Not stated |
| Richmond Public Schools | Oct 21, 2026 | Wi-Fi, phones, email, classroom tools, cameras | Classes in session, safety stated unaffected | Not reported | Not confirmed |
| Darlington County, SC | Aug 2026 | Computers and phone lines | 911 and emergency operations continued | Not stated | Not stated |
These three incidents are not connected to each other; they are separate events compared here only because the same failure pattern shows up in each.
What to watch next
Three things will change this story. First, a restoration update from the city: which applications are back, and whether any remain offline. Second, any statement from SLED or the city on what happened on the network and whether personal information was involved. Third, whether any attacker claim surfaces. Until then, the honest summary is disruption, not breach, with emergency services and payments intact.
Frequently asked questions
Is MyColaSC down?
MyColaSC was disrupted by the October 20 network security incident, and no full restoration has been announced as of this update. Residents can report concerns by phone at 803-545-3300.
Was my personal data stolen in the Columbia incident?
Officials have not said whether personal information was compromised. No data theft has been confirmed, and no ransomware claim or attacker has been named. Treat it as unknown, not as safe or as breached.
Can I still pay my bill online?
Yes, according to the city’s statement as reported by WACH on October 20: the payment center and online payment services remained operational through the incident. The disruption hit service requests and permitting, not payments.
Sources: City of Columbia Planning and Development Services notice; City of Columbia MyCOLASC page (service definition); WACH, “SLED investigates possible cyberattack targeting city of Columbia services” (October 21, 2026) and “SLED investigating ‘suspicious activity’ in City of Columbia network” (October 20, 2026); WIS, “Columbia officials address security incident to online citizen services” (October 20, 2026) and “City of Columbia gives update on when online service will reopen after security incident” (October 21, 2026). Darlington County details from August 2026 local coverage by WBTW and WMBF.
Update log: October 23, 2026 — Added the city’s contact number (803-545-3300), a MyColaSC definition, the city’s October 21 statement on the SLED investigation, and primary-source attribution (WACH, WIS, City of Columbia); trimmed the comparison-table disclaimer to one line.
