The United States Senate has
expressed their concerns regarding the database security of the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) because of stolen taxpayer data reported last May. Due to these discoveries, the Senate feels
that the American taxpayers have been failed by the companies and policymakers
that they rely on to protect them.
Cybersecurity is an essential part
of keeping yourself safe from being hacked and issuing personal information on
the Internet or any technological platform.
However, to have an increasingly persistent issue of cybersecurity
within a government company rises many concerns. The IRS stated that the breach discovered
last May affected more than 700,000 taxpayer accounts and lasted over the months
of January 2014 to May 2015. The weak
security displays that the IRS is not keeping up-to-date on technology patterns
and methods of hacking government systems to protect this data. Without proper cybersecurity skills the IRS
will continue to lose American taxpayer accounts to hacker and this will
eventually lead to the highest forms of identity theft, fraud, and much more.
When tax season roles around,
American use many different methods of completing their tax returns in order to
get them in before April 15, which includes using private tax preparers. Currently private tax preparers are not
regulated by the Internal Revenue Service in any way. However, the Senate believes that these
accountants and tax preparers need to be under the authority of the IRS to
ensure quality of tax returns, but to mainly provide the ultimate sense of
security from any avenue that a taxpayer files their taxes each year. By having each tax preparer and the IRS be on
the same page, it will help Americans regain confidence in our legal and
government system after the breach.
Since the breach reported last May
illustrates weak security, the Government Accountability Office has made 94
recommendations between August 2014 and March 2016 in order to help secure
taxpayer data. These recommendations can
transform and revolutionize the way the IRS secures their files and data of
taxpayers and other financial information that comes into their
possession. Taxpayers are trusting the
United States government with personal data that can, if put in the wrong
hands, can severely damage their lives. The IRS needs to reevaluate their
current methods and programs while seriously considering and implementing the
recommendations of the GAO.
Three things that the article does
not touch upon are how the IRS plans to fix this problem of continuous hacking,
what their current security method entails, and why it took so long for them to
detect the hacking and stolen tax data for over a year and a half. I believe these three aspects are important
to understand in order to fully grasp how the IRS is attempting to protect our
personal data that is now susceptible to hackers jumping at the opportunity to
steal American taxpayer information.
Work Cited
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/12/senators-say-irs-must-better-protect-taxpayer-data/82951942/
The concerns that Jess offers concerning the IRS's effort to reduce hackers is completely warranted. The IRS contains some of the most private and valuable data to U.S citizens. The security that protects that data needs to be of the highest quality. It is quite concerning that the IRS is yet to offer up a solution on how they can better protect our information. I would suggest that government funding be given to the IRS so that they can properly ensure that their databases are well protected.
ReplyDeleteThe US Senate is justified regarding their concerns for data base security in the IRS. Since filing is not a choice but a must for all US Citizens and residents who meet the requirements one would hope that this information is secure. In 2015 it was disclosed that there was a data breach and US taxpayers were at risk for having personal information compromised. Tax returns contain so much personal information such as, address, income, social security numbers, birth date, investments, properties, etc. If hackers get this information it can ruin ones life. When a taxpayer files a return they should know that their information is secure and will not get into the hands of hackers. I also agree with the Senate that the government should also regulate private tax preparers. It is the government’s job to protect it citizens and residents from fraudulent activity. One thing I would like to know is what if anything did the IRS do to help the people that were victims of the breach.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest of concerns usually comes out when you here hacking and the government in the same sentence. It is a major concern because we expect that the government can keep us safe at all times. When the IRS is having problems because of hacking this should concern everyone. This year was the first that I had to file taxes. I saw how much actually goes into filing them. I would hope that the government is doing everything possible to keep this information safe.
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