CYBERWAR/IRS: “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.
The IRS and Equifax did not immediately respond to requests for comment.”
-Steven Overly and Nancy Scola, “IRS awards multimillion-dollar fraud-prevention contract to Equifax,” Politico, Oct. 3, 2017 03:52pm