September 9, 2015 – On August 25th, two taxpayers filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), alleging that the agency “didn’t do enough to protect their personal information from hackers.” The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.
This doesn’t come as a surprise after the agency reported in late May that the tax return information of approximately 114,000 U.S. taxpayers had been illegally accessed by cyber criminals over the preceding four months.
Worse yet, it came to light that rather than the original 114,000 victims, there might have been as many as, and possibly upwards of, 600,000 people targeted, while 300,000 were confirmed victims of the hack.
In an age where cybersecurity is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, and should be at the forefront of a government agency’s mind, it’s particularly disconcerting to note the ease with which security researchers reportedly hacked into the IRS’s website back in March.
The plaintiffs have claimed that the illegal access of records was preventable. More information will be forthcoming on the lawsuit.
Sources
Williams, Kate Bo. “Taxpayers sue the IRS over data breach.” The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., 25 August 2015. Web. 8 September 2015.
Lawder, David, Emily Stephenson, and Sandra Maler. “IRS says cyberattacks more extensive than previously thought.” Reuters. Reuters, 17 August 2015. Web. 8 September 2015.