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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."
Should I be thinking twice about filing my taxes? It seems like there's a pretty big risk for identity theft.
Actually, you want to file as early as you can. One of the biggest identity theft targets is tax refunds: steal someone's SSN, and file. I've seen cases where the refund was sent to completely different States than where the real taxpayer lives. The IRS doesn't check DOBs, either so don't count on them not knowing that as a defense.
And what do you do when that happens? Call the IRS and then they "investigate" while you go round and round with their customer service. So, be sure to call your Congressman and Senator if it happens. Their offices are pretty good at shaking up Government agencies.
Actually, no. The $600 Toilet seats were for an aircraft (E3 Hawkeye?) that had a non-standard sized seat that had to conform to various weight and durability requirements. The contractor that originally supplied the seats no longer had the tooling from their original production run, so making replacement seats became a matter of starting a small-batch production run with large startup costs (making molds, etc.).
EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_seat#U.S._Navy.27s_.22.24600_Toilet_Seat.22 will tell you all you need to know. I had some details wrong above, but the actual story looks even better for the military.