The IRS has filed an amended statement on the ‘Get Transcript’ hack — which reports that 700,000 U.S. taxpayer accounts were accessed or targeted, and 47 million transcripts have been ordered to date.
In January 2014, Get Transcript launched on the IRS website. The application enabled taxpayers to view and download their transcript or order previous years of tax filing information.
On May 26, 2015, the IRS announced it had discovered that cyber criminals — using taxpayer information stolen elsewhere — accessed the Get Transcript application on IRS.gov. The IRS identified approximately 225,000 taxpayers whose transcripts had been accessed or targeted. In August 2015, the IRS announced it had identified approximately 390,000 additional taxpayer transcripts which had been access or targeted – which brought the total number of hacked accounts to 615,000.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration conducted a nine-month long investigation looking back to the launch of the application in January 2014 for additional suspicious activity – which led to the amended reporting of approximately 700,000 hacked accounts to date.
The IRS is notifying the hacked taxpayers by mail — informing that they have been victims and cyber thieves may have their personal information, and providing guidance.
“The IRS is committed to protecting taxpayers on multiple fronts against tax-related identity theft, and these mailings are part of that effort,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “We appreciate the work of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to identify these additional taxpayers whose accounts may have been accessed. We are moving quickly to help these taxpayers.”
The online viewing and download feature of “Get Transcript” has been suspended since May 2015. The IRS is working to restore that part of the service with enhanced security to protect taxpayer identities.
Post-hack reporting by the U.S. government usually gets worse over time. When OPM was hacked, the first reported numbers indicated four million people had their personal information exposed. The final tally was nearly 22 million.
The IRS has filed an amended statement on the ‘Get Transcript’ hack — which reports that 700,000 U.S. taxpayer accounts were accessed or targeted, and 47 million transcripts have been ordered to date.
In January 2014, Get Transcript launched on the IRS website. The application enabled taxpayers to view and download their transcript or order previous years of tax filing information.
On May 26, 2015, the IRS announced it had discovered that cyber criminals — using taxpayer information stolen elsewhere — accessed the Get Transcript application on IRS.gov. The IRS identified approximately 225,000 taxpayers whose transcripts had been accessed or targeted. In August 2015, the IRS announced it had identified approximately 390,000 additional taxpayer transcripts which had been access or targeted – which brought the total number of hacked accounts to 615,000.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration conducted a nine-month long investigation looking back to the launch of the application in January 2014 for additional suspicious activity – which led to the amended reporting of approximately 700,000 hacked accounts to date.
The IRS is notifying the hacked taxpayers by mail — informing that they have been victims and cyber thieves may have their personal information, and providing guidance.
“The IRS is committed to protecting taxpayers on multiple fronts against tax-related identity theft, and these mailings are part of that effort,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “We appreciate the work of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to identify these additional taxpayers whose accounts may have been accessed. We are moving quickly to help these taxpayers.”
The online viewing and download feature of “Get Transcript” has been suspended since May 2015. The IRS is working to restore that part of the service with enhanced security to protect taxpayer identities.
Post-hack reporting by the U.S. government usually gets worse over time. When OPM was hacked, the first reported numbers indicated four million people had their personal information exposed. The final tally was nearly 22 million.
By Catherine Herridge, Matthew Dean
Published September 16, 2015
Courtesy of FoxNews.com
A private industry IT security firm tells Fox News that personal data stolen over the span of several high-profile U.S. cyber breaches is being indexed by China's intelligence service into a massive Facebook-like network.
According to CrowdStrike founder Dmitri Alperovitch, Chinese hackers are using information gained from the breaches of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, as well as intrusions into the Anthem and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield health insurance networks, to build a complete profile of federal employees in what the company calls a "Facebook of Everything."
"That can now be used to embarrass you publicly and force you to work for the Chinese government," Alperovitch told Fox News. "It's, in effect, a private version of Facebook with much more detail about your life than even Facebook has that the Chinese now have access to." Current and former intelligence officials echoed the assessment.
As Fox News has reported, the most sensitive information stolen in the OPM breach was lifted from what is known as the Standard Form 86, or SF-86. The 127-page security clearance application is essentially a road map to your life. It contains highly detailed information on everything from where an applicant lived and worked, to personal references, family members, friends and associates, as well as drug history and intimate health information.
What's startling is the fact that virtually all government employees and contractors who hold the top echelon of U.S. security clearances were impacted by the OPM breach, even the Director of the FBI. James Comey joked at an intelligence and national security summit last week that had his SF-86 been stored in a strongly encrypted database "maybe someone wouldn't be reading it today."
According to a law enforcement source close to the OPM investigation, the scope of the data stolen in the breach makes this a "generational problem." Fox News is told that the big worry among those in the Intelligence Community is the possibility that applicants’ associates, friends and family will be impacted. Of particular concern, according to this source, is the likelihood that information on applicants’ children could be leveraged against them down the road.
Specifically, cybersecurity experts warn that this stolen information may be used for blackmailing and targeting of applicants’ children.
“To try to get them to reveal some information about their parent’s work and use that, eventually, for espionage activities,” Alperovitch explained to Fox News. “Information that has been collected about them may be used decades later.”
There is much concern among victims over the government’s response to the cyberattack, which left sensitive information on some 21.5 million individuals compromised. An intelligence source close to the OPM investigation tells Fox News that this is not an issue that can be fixed with merely a few years of credit monitoring – referring to the government’s current program that offers victims and their dependents credit and identity theft monitoring services free of charge.
While refusing to delve too far into specifics, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook on Tuesday acknowledged the severity of the lingering vulnerabilities associated with the breach and offered assurances that the government is working vigorously to mend the damage.
“This is going to be a wide-ranging effort on the part of the federal government to try and address this," Cook told reporters at a press briefing.
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report
Matthew Dean (@MattFirewall) is Fox News' Department of Justice & Federal Law Enforcement producer. He is also the co-host of FoxBusiness.com's Firewall.
Mortgage Returns, Inc.’s post-close gift will provide FreedomID LifeStages® Identity Management Services to borrowers, including 24/7 dedicated access to a fraud specialist for personalized support with proactive assistance and identity theft recovery services.
Scottsdale, Ariz. (PRWEB) July 09, 2015
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About FinWell Group
Founded in 2010, FinWell Group exclusively offered financial wellness products as a package for group financial wellness benefits. In 2012 the company bundled the products to offer individual professionals a highly unique gift called Life in a Box. Life in a Box is now the primary product sold by FinWell Group to employers, institutions and independent professionals in all 50 states. The product includes multiple co-branding options and is offered at a price point that is reasonable and provides value to the recipient for a lifetime.
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About Mortgage Returns
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