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I believe in the
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Due Process
Picture of JALLEN
posted
The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week, even as lawmakers lash the embattled company about a massive security breach that exposed personal information of as many as 145.5 million Americans.

A contract award for Equifax's data services was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities database Sept. 30 — the final day of the fiscal year. The credit agency will "verify taxpayer identity" and "assist in ongoing identity verification and validations" at the IRS, according to the award.

The notice describes the contract as a "sole source order," meaning Equifax is the only company deemed capable of providing the service. It says the order was issued to prevent a lapse in identity checks while officials resolve a dispute over a separate contract.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle blasted the IRS decision.

"In the wake of one of the most massive data breaches in a decade, it’s irresponsible for the IRS to turn over millions in taxpayer dollars to a company that has yet to offer a succinct answer on how at least 145 million Americans had personally identifiable information exposed," Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told POLITICO in a statement.

The committee's ranking member, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), piled on: "The Finance Committee will be looking into why Equifax was the only company to apply for and be rewarded with this. I will continue to take every measure possible to prevent taxpayer data from being compromised as this arrangement moves forward.”

The IRS defended its decision in a statement, saying that Equifax told the agency that none of its data was involved in the breach and that Equifax already provides similar services to the IRS under a previous contract.

"Following an internal review and an on-site visit with Equifax, the IRS believes the service Equifax provided does not pose a risk to IRS data or systems," the statement reads. "At this time, we have seen no indications of tax fraud related to the Equifax breach, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation."

Equifax did not respond to requests for comment.

Equifax disclosed a cybersecurity breach in September that potentially compromised the personal information, including Social Security numbers, of more than 145 million Americans — data that security experts have described as the crown jewels for identity thieves. The company is one of three major credit reporting bureaus whose data determine whether consumers qualify for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and other financial commitments.

The company has subsequently taken criticism for issuing confusing instructions to consumers, which contained language that appeared aimed at limiting customers' ability to sue, as well as tweeting out a link to a fake website instead of its own security site. The Justice Department later opened a criminal investigation into three Equifax executives who sold almost $1.8 million of their company stock before the breach was publicly disclosed, Bloomberg has reported.

Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith, who stepped down after the breach, endured a bipartisan shaming Tuesday at a hearing of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. The full committee's Republican chairman, Greg Walden of Oregon, proclaimed: "It's like the guards at Fort Knox forgot to lock the doors."

Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) separately penned letters to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen demanding he explain the agency's rationale for awarding the contract to Equifax and provide information on any alternatives the agency considered.


"I was initially under the impression that my staff was sharing a copy of the Onion, until I realized this story was, in fact, true," Blumenauer wrote.

The IRS, which has suffered its own embarrassing data breaches as well as a tidal wave of tax-identity fraud, has taken steps to improve its outdated information technology with the help of $106.4 million that Congress earmarked for cybersecurity upgrades and identity theft prevention efforts.

Hatch questioned the agency's security systems in a letter to Koskinen last month. Hatch said he was concerned that the IRS lacked the technology necessary "to safeguard the integrity of our tax administration system."

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Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
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Wow..

Is there truly any more inefficient, bumbling, bloated entity than the U.S. Government?




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10781 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Sherlock Holmes
 
Posts: 1286 | Registered: February 26, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
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Wow! Talk about the blind leading the blind...



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26031 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Mr Wilder (rest his soul) can best express my feelings on the subject.





Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-nDFpOJeU
 
Posts: 3718 | Registered: August 13, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oh stewardess,
I speak jive.
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(groan)
 
Posts: 25613 | Registered: March 12, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Told cops where to go for over 29 years…
Picture of 911Boss
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Ever hear the saying “Timing is everything”?






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


 
Posts: 11420 | Location: Western WA state for just a few more years... | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Don't Panic
Picture of joel9507
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The optics/timing is bad, no argument.

But - and I say this as someone whose data 'might have been affected' by their breach - there is a difference between being able to keep something secure, and being able to verify identity. And they are still one of the big three. And apparently they've been doing this/similar stuff for the IRS before.
quote:
the order was issued to prevent a lapse in identity checks

quote:
Equifax already provides similar services to the IRS under a previous contract.

So you wouldn't want the agency in charge of, say, providing refund checks potentially requested by poseurs to just go 'whatevers' and hand checks out like popcorn.

Companies make mistakes. Exxon had a stupid captain spill oil over Alaska. BP/Transocean had a blowout at Deepwater Horizon. They keep on.

That said, whatever puts Koskinen into hot water is OK by me.
 
Posts: 15235 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: October 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too old to run,
too mean to quit!
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
Wow..

Is there truly any more inefficient, bumbling, bloated entity than the U.S. Government?


Especially the IRS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Elk

There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre. (Louis L'Amour)

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. "
-Thomas Jefferson

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis de Tocqueville

FBHO!!!



The Idaho Elk Hunter
 
Posts: 25656 | Location: Virginia | Registered: December 16, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Whack-Job
Whisperer
Picture of 18DAI
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Koskinen is still employed??!!??? WTF OVER!!! Hey President Trump, how about firing some of these left over assholes from Comrade Zeros reign!

Unfucking believable! Regards 18DAI


7+1 Rounds of hope and change
 
Posts: 4231 | Registered: August 13, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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