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'Significant' Number of Equifax Victims Already Had Info Stolen, Says IRS (thehill.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: The IRS does not expect the Equifax data breach to have a major effect on the upcoming tax filing season, Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday, adding that the agency believes a "significant" number of the victims already had their information stolen by cyber criminals. "We actually think that it won't make any significantly or noticeable difference," Koskinen told reporters during a briefing on the agency's data security efforts. "Our estimate is a significant percent of those taxpayers already had their information in the hands of criminals." The IRS estimates that more than 100 million Americans have had their personally identifiable information stolen by criminal hackers, he said.
The Equifax breach disclosed in early September is estimated to have affected more than 145 million U.S. consumers. "It's an important reminder to the public that everyone can take any actions that they can ... to make sure we can do everything we can to protect personal information," Koskinen said of the breach on Tuesday, in response to a reporter's question. The IRS commissioner advised Americans to "assume" their data is already in the hands of criminals and "act accordingly."
The Equifax breach disclosed in early September is estimated to have affected more than 145 million U.S. consumers. "It's an important reminder to the public that everyone can take any actions that they can ... to make sure we can do everything we can to protect personal information," Koskinen said of the breach on Tuesday, in response to a reporter's question. The IRS commissioner advised Americans to "assume" their data is already in the hands of criminals and "act accordingly."
That is what they do. And sell the information to anyone who'll pay.
And the people of America think that is a good idea.
The data leaks just mean that some people are getting the data for free.
I'm not sure how you think that would work long-term. Perhaps I'm missing something but...
If you're proposing that the government is only allowed to collect taxes (a percentage of the total paid) on money they've paid out directly, it seems to me that they'd necessarily run out of money in short order. Unless, of course, you think the government firing up the presses every time an expense comes up is actually a good thing?
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.