IRS: Searching for Computers
November 1, 2015
I read “IRS Hasn’t Finished Doing Windows Upgrades Because It Can’t Find a Bunch of Its Computers.” Who knows if it is true. I find the write up darned amusing. The notion that the IRS cannot locate some of its computers is a Jack Benny-type knee slapper.
Here’s the passage I highlighted in tax delinquent red, a delightful hue:
The IRS has spent $128 million in its attempt to upgrade all computers away from Windows XP and all servers away from Windows Server 2003. But when the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) conducted the audit between December 2014 and June 2015, about half of the agency’s servers and more than 1,000 computers still had not been upgraded. “At the conclusion of our fieldwork, the IRS had not accounted for the location or migration status of approximately 1,300 workstations and upgraded only about one-half of its Windows servers,” the report explains. It’s a diplomatic way of saying that a bunch of computers were missing, whether they were hiding in plain sight or in a black market parts exchange somewhere.
At some point, one wonders if the 18f.gov folks can find the time to assist the IRS in its technical quest.
The write up also included this fascinating statement:
Using legacy operating systems is a problem because it makes systems more vulnerable to hacks. And since the IRS stores valuable information about millions of people it’s especially important for the agency. Don’t forget that the agency disclosed a big data breach in May [2015]. All of this is making the Navy’s disastrous upgrade process look a little better. Or maybe it’s just making every agency look worse.
I did not know that using a legacy operating system might be a problem. Insight time.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2015
Comments
One Response to “IRS: Searching for Computers”
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
http://www.facebookofsex
IRS: Searching for Computers : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search