SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week, even as lawmakers lash the embattled company about a massive security breach that exposed personal information of as many as 145.5 million Americans.
A contract award for Equifax's data services was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities database Sept. 30 — the final day of the fiscal year. The credit agency will "verify taxpayer identity" and "assist in ongoing identity verification and validations" at the IRS, according to the award.
The notice describes the contract as a "sole source order," meaning Equifax is the only company deemed capable of providing the service. It says the order was issued to prevent a lapse in identity checks while officials resolve a dispute over a separate contract.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/03/equifax-irs-fraud-protection-contract-243419
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday October 05 2017, @06:08PM (1 child)
"...what could be worse than giving this to Equifax..."
Well for one: from TFA:
"The IRS defended its decision in a statement, saying that Equifax told the agency that none of its data was involved in the breach and that Equifax already provides similar services to the IRS under a previous contract."
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:26PM
And the IRS is stupid enough to believe them. With such a breach, IRS should demand concrete evidence that their data was not compromised. The breach alone, and how incompetent Equifax has shown to be, they cannot be trusted in keeping anyone's data secure.