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IRS Rolls Out Risky Tax Processing Systems
GovIT Geek writes to tell us that, despite known security issues, the IRS has decided to roll out two new applications for tax processing systems. "The [IRS inspector general] concluded in a September annual audit that security weaknesses in the agency's updated tax processing systems could enable malicious intruders to gain unauthorized access to taxpayer information and prevent the IRS from recovering applications during an emergency. The Customer Account Data Engine is a tax processing tool being deployed in phases to replace the existing repositories of taxpayer information, while the Account Management Services systems aim to provide employees with faster and better access to taxpayer account data."
I think this is terribly unfair. It should at least be a *challenge*.
thanks for playing.
I think this might be a new definition for the word "moded".
Of blankness, I know nothing.
I think the response to this shouold be someone, somewhere, repeatedly breaking in and posting financial info on politicians. Do it enough times, they will get the message.
If you go do this, make sure you remember you didn't hear it from me, and that you do NOT brag about it. Don't be stupid.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Just another inflammatory article. What are they supposed to do? Hold off upgrading their systems until the new system is 100% rock-solid? Sorry, but every new software system has SOME bugs in it. TFA states that the project managers felt the vulnerabilites were acceptable at the time. Managing software projects involve iterations of identifying critical (or not so critical) defects (as many as you can before release), and then going back and updating the software to fix any defects that you didn't have time for the first go-around.
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
I know how my taxes are getting d';update taxtable set refund = '50000000' where uid = 'jeanbaptiste';--
This is the IRS! For crying out loud. Don't TELL them!
Deleted
The money the federal government takes from us by direct taxation is dwarfed by the theft through inflation. They can't raise trillions through taxes, they can only do it by further devaluing the currency.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
One of the frustrating things as a tax payer is not knowing how much I owe the government. I don't know if I'm overpaying or underpaying until the end of the year. Then I'm either screwed because I owe them a pile of cash or screwed because I wasted a lot of money that could have been better invested. Last year I gave the government 3000 extra which could have stayed as a cushion in a bank account or have been invested rather than getting it back with no interest.
Tax payers should be able to log into their IRS account and see what they owe throughout the year based on what their earnings are and how much has been taken out of their paychecks already. Throughout the year they can enter in deductions and extra earnings and whatnot so at the end of the year there isn't a surprise. It'd be nice to make extra payments if you want before April so that you don't get a huge tax bill or get no tax bill at all in April.
Work Safe Porn
This will be the MOAIT (Mother Of All Identity Thefts) when it's hacked.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
I hope this fails rendering the IRS obsolete!
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
prevent the IRS from recovering applications during an emergency
And what praytell is considered an IRS Emergency? In my world, an emergency is something that requires medical assistance, police or rescue to be involved.
If by emergency, they mean "someone has deleted the files", isn't that what automated backups are for? I don't care what software you are using, a proficient IT department, given the proper resources (tape drive auto system, etc) can recover ANYTHING!
You care to translate that into English so that even us people who generally understand the law have some idea what you're talking about?
I've done a little tax law, but what you're talking about doesn't seem even in the slightest bit related to actual tax law.
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
How long until I can hire someone to hack in and reduce my tax liability to zero?
What if you work for yourself?
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
Your argument appears to be based on this chain of reasoning:
1) All seizures and wage garnishments are to be handled in a district Court
2) Income tax amounts to a seizure or wage garnishment
3) Because taxes are not collected through the courts, they violate the due process clause (5th Amendment).
4) Therefore, income taxes are unconstitutional.
Such reasoning is not persuasive, and I suggest if you want to find out how unpersuasive it is, you attempt to argue it before a court- any court.
This is especially true every since the 16th Amendment in 1913, which constitutionally creates a right for an income tax.
Moreover, to:
I say:
12 USC 144 says:
"Four-fifths of the reserve of 15 per centum which a national bank located in a dependency or insular possession or any part of the United States outside of the continental United States, and not a member of the Federal Reserve System, is required to keep, may consist of balances due such bank from associations approved by the Comptroller of the Currency and located in any one of the reserve cities as now or hereafter defined by law or designated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System."
Which, to be perfectly honest, I fail to see how it is at all relevant.
Normally I would presume you're trolling. But I can't see how you get any enjoyment out of posting huge whacks of totally meaningless pseudo-legal analysis.
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
After the audit, IRS officials reported that 11 of the 22 security vulnerabilities detected by the IG had been corrected.
Yeah, closing 50% of security vulnerabilities will suffice, no one will ever figure out how to exploit the remaining 11.
Furthermore, 22 known vulnerabilities were identified, how many more are making the application ripe for exploitation?
We've got what it takes to take what you've got.
Have gnu, will travel.
Ok that's silly we'll still have money, but times will in fact suck and if the government can't process their own tax returns and screw it up there will in fact be riots. Well I guess it was good enough for government work and the Federal Contractors who got rich from it will have set up shop in Dubai with about a trillion of your dollars anyway, So yeah - screw those serfs screw them good.
"You're doin' a hell of a good job, Brownie".
In the mid-eighties, under St. Ronnie, the IRS rolled out a complete disaster. After 15 or so years, they rolled out both new hardware *and* new software. The new software had been written by mostly inexperienced, just out of college (if that) programmers. The *entire* codebase was rewritten from assembly to COBOL.
a) They did *not* run the old code in parallel, and
b) the inexperienced programmers, and their PHB managers, put code in with *no* checkpoints,
so that programs that would run for literally a week, straight, yes, I mean 168 hours or so,
if they had a fatal error, would have to be *rerun* from start.
There were reports in the mainstream media of IRS employees literally shredding returns, so they wouldn't have to process them, they were so behind. Refunds came *months* late.
Ah, the joys of Republican administrations, going out of their way to make *sure* government doesn't work.
mark
http://copilka.info/
Bureaucrat: We have to move into the 21st century! Think how much money this will save. Sec team: You can't do that! We know its insecure! Bureaucrat: No system is ever secure. Sec team: But you cannot roll it out with such obvious vulnerabilities! Bureaucrat: Well we can use it as a honeypot, since we know about it to catch fraudsters! Sec team: We can't do that! Thats putting peoples financial information on the line! Bureaucrat: HA! As if we care about that!