Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
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IRS
A bill introduced in the House on Thursday would create a series of minimum functionality and security requirements for all Federal government agency public-facing websites and digital services. […]
On Tuesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) online filing and payment portals went down for several hours. Tax Day, the biggest day of the year for IRS, and systems gave only cryptic messages with erroneous dates for “planned maintenance.” No doubt this wasn’t in the plan. […]
The Government Accountability Office on Oct. 16 denied a bid protest filed by Equifax with the IRS. The bid protest is a result of Equifax losing a taxpayer identification and verification services contract with the IRS to rival consumer credit reporting agency Experian. With the denial, the IRS can now begin work with Experian on a one-year contract worth up to $795,000. […]
If Federal agencies invest upfront in technologies to track fraud and improper payments, the government could end up saving enough money to pay back some of the national debt or stave off sequestration, according to Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. […]
The Internal Revenue Service could potentially collect hundreds of millions of dollars by making online services available to more people, according to Eugene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office. […]
By submitting mock Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms with stolen data, scammers were able to access detailed tax information of approximately 100,000 taxpayers, according to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. […]
The United States Digital Service said that accessibility standards, similar to cybersecurity standards, should be built into government websites from the beginning of the production process. […]
Commercial data services can help the efficiency of program integrity activities for certain government agencies. The Government Accountability Office stated in a June 30 report that agencies can focus their efforts on other tasks if they allow commercial data service providers to offer Web and phone-based services to authenticate taxpayers’ identities. […]
Internal Revenue Service cybersecurity is woefully inadequate, and Congress is to blame, according to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “Congress has sat back and watched while criminals have come in and preyed on taxpayers,” Wyden said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. […]
Despite information security progress, the IRS still has deficiencies in controls over taxpayer data, according to a GAO study that found insufficient controls in identity authentication, server access, encryption of authentication data, auditing systems to ensure compliance with agency policies, and access to restricted areas. […]
It’s tax season, and the IRS is warning of scams. The IRS alerted human resource and payroll specialists of a phishing scam called “spoofing,” where a cybercriminal will send an email in the name of a company “CEO” or executive asking personal information, including a PIN or Social Security number, from an employee. […]