IRS Flunks Second Government Security Review

In a second review of the Internal Revenue Services's Modernized e-File system, this time by the General Accountability Office, the 13 vulnerabilities cited in 2007 have yet to be fixed. The system went into production in January 2007 despite the vulnerabilities, which were to have been corrected based on the findings of an earlier government audit.

The report noted that the IRS remains a juicy target for identity thieves because of the large volume of personal data, including Social Security Numbers, which it stores on its systems, including MeF. Interestingly enough, most of the issues cited in the report revolve around inappropriate access controls and logging, which has allowed IRS employees to snoop around in the tax records of celebrities.

For those of you in the US, who may not be celebrities but are still getting ready to file their taxes and want to protect their financial privacy from nosy IRS employees, this is something to think about.