he Internal Revenue Service said identity thieves’ penetration of one of its computer databases was much more extensive than previously reported, with more than 300,000 taxpayer accounts potentially affected and more than 600,000 breaches attempted.
The IRS reported in May that cyber crooks used stolen Social Security numbers and other data acquired elsewhere to try to gain unauthorized access to prior-year tax return information for about 225,000 U.S. households. That included about 114,000 successful attempts and 111,000 unsuccessful ones.
On Monday, the agency said its review showed that an additional 390,000 taxpayers were potentially affected. That includes about 220,000 additional households “where there were instances of possible or potential access” to prior-year return data, the IRS said in a statement. It also includes about 170,000 additional instances of “suspected attempts that failed to clear the authentication processes,” it added.
As before, the IRS said it would move immediately to notify affected taxpayers and take other steps, including offering free credit protection and special identification numbers to reduce instances of tax-refund fraud.
The breaches occurred in an online application called “Get Transcript” that allowed taxpayers to obtain prior-year return information. The system was shut down when the problems came to light.
“The IRS takes the security of taxpayer data extremely seriously, and we are working to continue to strengthen security for `Get Transcript,’ including by enhancing taxpayer-identity authentication protocols,” the agency said.
Another day, another lie/fib/untruth exposed in government, thankfully they are here to protect us, otherwise we'd be screwed... SMH.
And these are the same people in charge of your Medical records....
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