City of Bandera Has a New Website Address

What does this mean for our community?

Nothing. All your saved links and CityofBandera.org email addresses will continue to work. When visiting the site, you will be forwarded to the BanderaTX.gov domain, but the content will remain the same. 

The city of Bandera, Texas is moving forward to improve its cybersecurity protections and increase the public’s confidence in local government. All staff email addresses and the city’s website will be switched from CityofBandera.org to BanderaTX.gov, a significant transition only authorized with approvals from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act, as passed by Congress in 2019, encourages state and local government agencies to shift to .gov domain names in the interest of security and improved administration. Among other things, the law transfers authority over the .gov domain from its prior home in the General Services Administration to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Registering as a .gov domain requires an entity to submit evidence to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that they are truly registering on behalf of legitimate local, county, or state governments. The new .gov domain also makes it more difficult for malicious actors and scammers to co-opt government websites. Using less secure domains such as .com allows cybercriminals and malicious actors to impersonate government officials more easily in attempts to defraud the public.

The city of Bandera wants people to trust the links and emails they receive from us. Anyone can buy a .org website or email address and use it to spoof the city of Bandera. You can’t purchase a .gov domain, so by moving to BanderaTX.gov, we’re increasing security and protecting our residents from fraud.

Across the globe, cybercriminals have increasingly been trying to impersonate government employees, websites, and emails to entice people to click on malicious links, spread malware and share personal information or credentials. .Gov domains require stricter security control, which helps protect BanderaTX.gov visitors and ensures the content our employees publish is exactly what is received.

We want our residents and visitors to know that you can still use your bookmarks for  ‘CityofBandera.org,’ but now, you’ll be redirected to the more secure BanderaTX.gov site. Email addresses will work the same way. We are working hard to ensure the upcoming transition will not affect our services or prevent people from reaching us. We do ask that everyone take a moment to update our contact information and adjust the online bookmarks and links to their favorite City of Bandera webpages.

Moving to a .gov site improves the security and searchability of Bandera’s online presence, and it ensures visitors that they are on the official city website, since only qualified U.S.-based government agencies are permitted to use the .gov domain.