Last week, the IRS announced that the electronic filing personal identification number tool (e-file PIN), used by taxpayers to verify their signature on their tax filings, “is no longer available.”

The IRS admitted in February of 2016 that cyber criminals were attacking the system and had accessed more than 100,000 taxpayers PIN numbers. It did not shut down the system because the PINs were used in commercial tax return software programs and it would be disruptive.

Apparently, the IRS detected additional attacks on the system by cyber-attackers and decided enough was enough and shut the system down. It is not much of a surprise that hackers continue to try to get into the IRS system and steal taxpayer information as the information in tax returns includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers and financial information—the treasure trove of personal information. When will the IRS use the same security measures as the Department of Defense?

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