Mack Male

The IRS Has Taken its Failed ID Protection Service Offline, After a Hack

Identity thieves have stolen at least 800 "Identity Protection PINs" through the IRS system.

After last year’s massive data breach at the United States Internal Revenue Service, the agency gave secret codes to the taxpayers whose personal information had been compromised. These “Identity Protection PINs” were to be included on future tax returns as an extra layer of security, since hackers had already stolen their Social Security numbers.

Now, the IRS says identity thieves have stolen at least 800 of those PINs through its online retrieval service, and it has taken that service offline.

In a statement released Monday (March 7), the IRS said it had sent PINs by mail to 2.7 million people for this tax season. Of those, 130,000 had used the online tool to retrieve their PINs before it was shut down. The thieves who stole 800 PINs subsequently used them to file fraudulent tax returns, which the IRS says were flagged and stopped.

As we reported last week, the compromised PIN retrieval system used the same method of authentication, known as “knowledge-based authentication,” (KBA) that led to last year’s breach of the agency’s “Get Transcript” service. (That service allowed taxpayers to retrieve the details of their past tax returns.)

Despite the original breach, a report by the Government Accountability Office that pointed out the weaknesses in the PIN retrieval system, and questions last year from Quartz that raised doubts about the safety of the system, the IRS left it in place.

The thieves presumably got into the PIN retrieval service this tax season the same way they got into the Get Transcript system last year. They were able to correctly answer authentication questions that KBA is based on, such as “On which of the following streets have you lived?” or “What is your total scheduled monthly mortgage payment?”

The IRS shut down its “Get Transcript” service shortly after the data breach—nine months ago—and still hasn’t brought up a new system to replace it. In its statement on Monday, the IRS said shutting down the PIN retrieval system is “part of its ongoing security review.” The agency has not yet said when either system will be brought back up, or whether they’ll continue to use KBA.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2014 mandating that all federal agencies implement multi-factor authentication to improve security. And although KBA does not meet the standards laid out in that order, the IRS seemed to be investing further into the method as of last spring. According to a report by Federal News Radio, the agency put out a request for quotations to federal contractors in April, saying it was looking to build upon its KBA systems, and invest $130 million.

The IRS did not respond to questions from Quartz this week about where that request stands, and whether it’s been altered following the continued exploitation of KBA on its website.

During an investigation into the original breach last August, Quartz asked the IRS what it was planning to do about the PIN service’s authentication system, since it appeared to be using KBA, the system that had already been hacked. At the time, the agency would not confirm the method of authentication, but said it was taking “a number of steps to protect taxpayers and Identity Protection (IP) PINs.”

It wasn’t clear whether the IRS was indeed using KBA on its PIN retrieval service until security researcher and journalist Brian Krebs reported on March 1 that at least one of the PINs had been compromised.

(Image via Flickr user Mack Male)

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.