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GAO Criticizes IRS Over Serious IT Deficiencies
wiredmikey writes with an analysis of a GAO report on the dismal failure of the IRS to implement secure IT practices. From the article: "The Government Accountability Office has blasted the Internal Revenue Service for failing to implement stronger security measures after a succession of dismal reports on the subject. In a report issued to the Secretary of the Treasury last week, the GAO said that the IRS had met just 15 percent of the 105 previously reported recommendations where information security is concerned. Taking a blunt approach, the GAO said that the IRS 'lacks reasonable assurance as to the accuracy of financial information or the adequate protection of sensitive taxpayer information.' ... It also said it would issue a limited distribution report to the IRS that addresses details omitted from this most recent report due to the sensitivity of the information."
I can't find the link after a few minutes on Google, but a couple years back there was news that some IRS employees were using their computer systems to snoop on celebrities and read their tax returns.
This report seems basically like confirmation that once you're on the system, you can do whatever you want.
I think a basic precaution would be that you have to know both the social security number and the name in order to open a file.
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
Should I be thinking twice about filing my taxes? It seems like there's a pretty big risk for identity theft.
So which brave American politician is going to propose a law to give more money to the IRS to implement all of this?
The fact that they're passing around "sensitive taxpayer information" between unsecured and unpatched* systems in un-encrypted form is bad enough, but it only gets worse when you factor in "issues concerning management validation of access to restricted areas, proximity cards allowing inappropriate access, and unlocked cabinets containing network devices."
Security issues compound on one another. For example, having unlocked cabinets with switches/routers is already a serious issue, but it's a critical risk when the information being routed through is unencrypted, and downright foolish when your proximity cards allow "inappropriate access" and let anyone just walk into the server area.
Systems/networks like these are ticking time bombs, and the worst part is that not even 2 scathing security reviews will shake things up when it comes to massive government organizations like the IRS. Next year we'll almost surely see a post with almost the exact same title.
* "The UNIX tool does not test whether appropriate security patches have been applied, and the mainframe tool only tests compliance with a limited subset of the agency’s policies."
With all the inflation created by the Fed to feed the ever hungry Treasury, why bother with the IRS? Here is a cost cutting for you: abolish the IRS and just keep counterfeiting. There is no difference. IRS is just a token dep't, existing for the sake of existing, today, that government only collects a small part of its expenses in taxes and borrows and prints the rest.
You KNOW the final result of this government agenda. The final result is massive inflation (maybe even hyper inflation). What difference does it make if you collect a few percentage points of your expenses in taxes, while the most of what you spend you print directly (QE) or indirectly - 0% interest at the discount window given to the banks, so they can buy US Treasuries?
USA can never repay its debt with honest money, it is going to monetize the debt and destroy the value of USD further. Since 1913 the value of USD has come down by 99%, what's the big deal about the 1 remaining percent? What's so special about it?
Since 1971 the end result was pre-determined. The fiat currencies of the world were going to come to a disgraceful end. Today in Greece they already don't bother with the fiat, people on the streets already found ways to exchange their labor and products/services by using other means of exchange, store of value and unit of account (all this to avoid the austerity imposed by the banks upon the country and to avoid the taxation.)
Greeks are doing it right.
At some point everybody else will wake up and do it right too.
You can't handle the truth.
With over 50,000 pages of tax code, it is pretty obvious that nothing the IRS is going to do is going to be efficient. But I would suspect they believe in security through obscurity.
GAO, you have just won a FREEEE AUDIT!!! :)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
just outsource the entire IRS IT stuff to India, I think that'll fix everything in a hurry.
Anonymous moves in. If that's even a thing, any more.
And now where are they?
maybe it's time to move them in house get rid of the overhead and have so a IT worker has a boss on site and not one in a contractors office that is just a recruiter.
I work for the government and thus know how horrible our IT is in general, but I find the typical reason is one word: FUNDING. yes, GAO can make fantastic recommendations that absolutely should be implemented. It's not that government staff is populated by buffoons or people who could care less about modern processes/equipment, security, privacy, etc etc etc. What typically happens is that recommendations, mandates, or best practices are given to the agency in question, but $0 are committed by the purse holders to make the changes required. So.... who is ultimately responsible for the implementation?
The IRS will retaliate by auditing random low-level rank & file federal employees at other agencies to make a point.
Same kind of thing as back in 1998-2000 when Microsoft was on trial for antitrust, and "lost" (not really lost much), all of a sudden there was a huge number of software license audits of small govt agencies all over the country (fed, state, local, and even independent school districts) that placed burdens on these small agencies to drop whatever they were doing, and cease all other business activity, dedicating *all* staff resources to the audit tasks until the audits were concluded.
Coincidence or Retaliation? You tell me.
So.... who is ultimately responsible for the implementation?
Well, of course it's the government IT workers themselves!
After all, maybe if they would be able to argue their "business case" for sufficient funding to the purse holders a little better, they might get the funding actually approved.
I know that sounds like sarcastic humor, but I'm a govt IT worker too, and that's what we've been told... that we need to learn to come up with more convincing and compelling arguments else we'll always get our funding requests summarily dismissed.
Nixon badly misused the agency. In the aftermath, Congress cracked down on the IRS like they have done for no other agency. For example, even small agencies usually have lots of political appointees. Those jobs are often used as payback. The IRS, though, has only two political appointees - the Commissioner and the Taxpayer Advocate.
Anyone who believes the IRS routinely launches audits of personal income tax returns upon the orders of some high-placed politician is living in 1972. There have been more recent allegations of political reasons for starting audits of exempt organizations such as churches but there have been virtually no shenanigans concerning individuals for decades.
tl;dr - You don't know what you're talking about.
To avoid bad guys using the IRS to help steal your identity, FILE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE! I can't stress this enough.
Also, to prevent your ex from taking exemptions for the kids even though s/he isn't entitled, make sure you file first.
The ROI for the IRS is, indeed, fantastic.
So keep this in mind - Any politician who says they want to reduce government debt but who does not also say they are willing to fund the IRS to the level it needs is a liar.
Revenue Officers, even new ones, bring in 3 to 20 times their salary (sometimes much, much more) per year. So why aren't we hiring more Officers and Agents and all the support people they need? Because politician are liars, people with no integrity who will say whatever it takes to get elected whether it makes sense or not. Here's the most basic test I can think of - Any politician who says they want to abolish the IRS is too stupid to carry out any job more complex than janitor (and I really hate to insult janitors by suggesting politicians could do their job). Don't vote for them.