Let’s file this under “This Is Fine.”
Politico reported Tuesday:
The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week …
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.
A quick reminder: Equifax revealed in September that 148 million people were affected in a massive data breach of its systems. This means credit card information, home addresses, social security numbers, etc., have all been compromised.
It gets better: The credit-reporting service learned of the cyberattack much earlier this year, but only mentioned the intrusion in September – after three top executives had already sold off a combined $2 million worth of shares.
The three “sold a small percentage of their Equifax shares,” a spokeswoman explained last month, adding they “had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time.”
Cool, cool. Hope you all have fun with your lucrative no-bid fed contracts. Life is just grand.
