DHS is a mess of Cybersecurity incompetence

[viper37]

Assessing DHS performance 12 years after its creation, a new Federal report called "A Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Missions and Performance" contains a blistering summary on the state of DHS cybersecurity practices and programs. The January 1 report reveals and concludes that DHS's cybersecurity practices and programs are so bad, the DHS fails at even the basics of computer security and is "unlikely" able to protect both citizens and government from attacks.

Link

[jimmy olsen]

I don't think this surprises anyone. If a government agency has good cyber-security that would be shocking.

Given that DHS is a kludge of a dozen different agencies I'd expect them to be one of the worst at it, maybe the worst.

[dps]

I don't think this surprises anyone. If a government agency has good cyber-security that would be shocking.

Given that DHS is a kludge of a dozen different agencies I'd expect them to be one of the worst at it, maybe the worst.

Yeah, "government agency" and "competent" is kind of an oxymoron.

True story:  we still haven't gotten our state income tax refund for 2013 yet.  Back around Thanksgiving, aa was getting real upset about it.  Given that the year before, we didn't get our state refund until early November, and the year before that not until late October, I wasn't too concerned.  Then, about a week before Christmas, aa checked the mail and found something from the state tax department.  She thought we'd finally gotten our refund.  Nope.  It was a notice asking us to re-file our return, because they couldn't process it because they didn't have our mailing address on file.  Let me emphasize this:  they mailed us something, with our correct mailing address on it, to tell us that they don't have our mailing address on file.

And people wonder why I give Ide shit for being a statist.

[CountDeMoney]

Which state are you in, dps?  I forget.

[Caliga]

 

[CountDeMoney]

Speaking of taxes, or as derteabagger would say, "erections have consequences"...

IRS: Budget cuts could cause agency shutdown

Facing a new round of budget cuts, the IRS plans to delay information technology improvements, audit fewer taxpayers and send out refunds more slowly, the agency's chief said Tuesday.

Even so, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen added that the agency still might have to shut down for two days this year.

Those changes are all on the table because of a $346 million cut in the IRS budget that will hurt both taxpayers and the tax system, Koskinen told staffers in an agency-wide email.

Republicans, furious over the IRS's improper scrutiny of Tea Party groups, pushed to roll back the agency's budget even further in the spending deal that lawmakers struck late last year. That, Koskinen says, essentially puts the agency on a 1998 funding level, when inflation is taken into account.

"This year we are looking at a situation where realistically we have no choice but to do less with less," Koskinen told staffers, after warning for weeks that the budget cuts would force the agency's hand.

Still, Koskinen said the decision to potentially shutter the agency for two days wasn't taken lightly, and that such a move would only come after talks with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). On days the IRS was closed, agency employees would be on unpaid furlough, but Koskinen said the IRS would try to limit the damage for taxpayers and tax professionals.

"Shutting down the IRS will be a last resort, but I want to be upfront with you about the problem," Koskinen said in his message, which was obtained by The Hill.

"I know even a day's worth of pay makes a huge difference in household budgets and family situations. While we will continue to do the best we can to avoid this action, the cuts in the budget are so deep that we may have no other choice."

The IRS's budget for fiscal 2015 is set at $10.9 billion, which Koskinen says amounts to a $600 million cut when counting employee raises and other mandated costs. The IRS chief also likes to point out the agency budget has been dropping since well before the Tea Party controversy — down more than $1 billion since 2010, and now at its lowest figure since 2008.

That latest funding decrease also comes as the agency is taking on more responsibilities, including a new role in enforcing the Affordable Care Act and implementing a law cracking down on offshore tax cheats.

On top of a potential shutdown, Koskinen also said Tuesday that the agency will have to hold off on $200 million worth of IT improvements, cut enforcement procedures by $160 million, slash spending on overtime and temporary staff by $160 million and continue a hiring freeze through the current fiscal year.

The delays to infrastructure spending means the IRS won't be able to implement new protections against identity theft, and that the agency's current aging systems will continue to cause delays for taxpayers and staffers alike, Koskinen said. The IRS chief has said throughout his yearlong tenure that the agency's IT systems are stuck in the 20th century.

"During this process, we tried to protect critical areas as much as we could," Koskinen insisted.

"We will still work to deliver as smooth a filing season as possible. We will maintain IT systems critical to the filing season and tax enforcement. This commitment also includes providing appropriate training and technology support for you and your colleagues to help you do your job."

Koskinen added that the cuts to enforcement — the loss of about 1,800 staffers and some 46,000 fewer audit closures for businesses and individuals — will amount to $2 billion in uncollected revenue, at a time when lawmakers are still searching for ways to cut into the deficit.

In all, the IRS will be unable to replace about 3,000 to 4,000 new employees, putting the agency down between 16,000 and 17,000 staffers since 2010.

Taxpayers, meanwhile, could have to wait an extra week or even longer to get their refund if they filed by paper. Fewer than half the taxpayers who try to call the IRS might get an answer, Koskinen said, after saying last month that a phone call was a 50-50 proposition.

Still, Koskinen can expect little sympathy from GOP lawmakers, who have accused the agency of showing blatant disregard for taxpayer dollars, and have called the latest round of cuts among their favorite parts of last year's spending deal.

Colleen Kelley, the president of the NTEU, blasted Congress for the budget cuts in a Tuesday statement, but also suggested the union wouldn't easily agree to potential furlough days for employees.

"I have urged the IRS not to make any decisions on furlough days this early in the fiscal year and to work with us to find other alternatives," Kelley said. "Hard-working, committed IRS workers and their families should not be expected to bear the brunt of this budget shortfall."

[dps]

Which state are you in, dps?  I forget.

North Carolina. 

[KRonn]

DHS is in the news now and then with stories of problems. One issue is that since a number of other departments were brought under the DHS umbrella, such as Secret Service, efficiency and morale have really taken hits. DHS is involved in too much, I think, even in some regular federal law enforcement issues.

[Jacob]

That's just piss poor management practice (re: the Budget cuts to the IRS).

[Razgovory]

Cutting the IRS doesn't make a great deal of sense.  It's one of the few government agencies that actually pays for itself. 

[CountDeMoney]

That's just piss poor management practice (re: the Budget cuts to the IRS).

That's what you get for fucking with the Tea Party.  And Congress run by a party that wants to destroy the agency along with the rest of government.

[KRonn]

The IRS budget cut should be nothing really. Always the end of the world when budgets aren't increased as much as they want. The IRS wastes so much money, lost track of billions as I recall from a few years ago. And Koskinnen is the guy who tried to pull a few fast ones at the hearings, saying there was no way any backups could be found, yada, yada. But then a few months later reams of backups were found. So I don't put much stock in what he says.

[CountDeMoney]

Well, you hate government, so there's not much stock in what you say either. 

[KRonn]

Yeah right, I'm a hater.  The track record of the IRS kind of speaks for itself.

[garbon]

Could the IRS like I don't know - do our taxes for us? Who else gets to demand money but first says, figure out how much you owe me first?