IRS targeted in bot attack
Citizen Services
IRS targeted in bot attack
- By Zach Noble
- Feb 10, 2016
Data thieves used an automated attack technique and stolen Social Security numbers to try to establish accounts with IRS systems, the tax agency disclosed late on Feb. 9.
The attack was designed to generate e-filing PINs, which would presumably be used to request fraudulent tax refunds.
The IRS said attackers deployed two key weapons: an automated bot and stolen Social Security numbers they'd obtained elsewhere.
"With our improved systems, we were able to catch it quickly," IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 10. He compared the attack to last year's compromise of the Get Transcript app.
"None of those attacks breached our system itself," Koskinen said, noting that in both instances, hackers already had personal information on targeted taxpayers.
In a statement on the latest attack, the IRS said, "No personal taxpayer data was compromised or disclosed by IRS systems." Officials plan to notify affected taxpayers via mail and will monitor their accounts for future identity theft attempts.
Attackers used roughly 464,000 Social Security numbers in the latest attack.
Koskinen blamed global organized crime syndicates and noted that the attackers "hopped" from country to country as the IRS detected and attempted to halt the activity. Officials are investigating the incident but believe that the attack has been stopped.
They said it is not related to last week's hardware failure at the IRS.
About the Author
Zach Noble is a staff writer covering digital citizen services, workforce issues and a range of civilian federal agencies.
Before joining FCW in 2015, Noble served as assistant editor at the viral news site TheBlaze, where he wrote a mix of business, political and breaking news stories and managed weekend news coverage. He has also written for online and print publications including The Washington Free Beacon, The Santa Barbara News-Press, The Federalist and Washington Technology.
Noble is a graduate of Saint Vincent College, where he studied English, economics and mathematics.
Click here for previous articles by Noble, or connect with him on Twitter: @thezachnoble.