If you ’ve spend any time in front of C - SPAN this week , you ’ve likely come across Congress repeatedly take Equifax ’s former chief executive officer out to the woodshed . It ’s been quite the shellacking . And it almost seemed as if we ’d finally turn over a break stage . America was n’t going to put up with companies recklessly plow our individual data point , losing ascendancy over it , say “ dreary ” and strike on like it ’s business as common any longer .
But then do the gut punch : Almost a calendar month after Equifax fessed up to a information breach impress up to 143 million the great unwashed ( 145 millionwe sleep together now ) , newsworthiness break that the company had been handeda no - bid federal contract with the IRS . Sure , it was only deserving $ 7.25 million , soft touch modification in the long run , but those are n’t just steady clam — they’re freakin ’ taxpayer dollars . It ’s enough to make you spit .
But one Texas lawmaker has an idea about how to rectify the situation : instigate a Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) investigation into whether Equifax present a cybersecurity risk to the Union government . In a statement , Republican Representative John Ratcliffe , a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security , called the Equifax go against a “ cybersecurity negligence of epic symmetry , ” and he ’s asking DHS to use its authority to “ treat this troubling development . ”
https://gizmodo.com/irs-awards-equifax-7-25-million-no-bid-contract-to-hel-1819119424
The news that the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS)awardeda multi - million dollar bill declaration to Equifax to assist in “ on-going identity verification and validations ” leave several lawgiver stunned , particularly those whose legislative duties include dish out with credit entry - reporting agencies and consumer datum breaches . In a letter to IRS chief John Koskinen , Representative Earl Blumenauer wrote that he think the news was something out of “ The Allium cepa . ”
“ Americans place their religion in Union agencies — the IRS most sure as shooting included — to safeguard vast amounts of their extremely sensible personal information , ” Ratcliffe said . “ As the lead civilian cybersecurity way , DHS should play an important role in ensuring federal agencies engross in creditworthy cybersecurity behaviour , so we can sustain the confidence of the American people . ”
Ratcliffe ’s spokesperson told NextGov on Thursday that the congresswoman was n’t quick to say Equifax should be banned throughout the federal government , only that DHS should publish “ binding operational directive ” forcing federal representation to meliorate their cybersecurity . presumptively , that would include not using services with a raceway record book of negligently handling client ’ data . It could mean push the IRS to reconsider Equifax ’s contract .
Banning Equifax alone is an interesting idea , if not a risky case in point . If the federal government plant a forbidding on every troupe affected by a data break , it might run out of service to rely on . It ’s widely take over , after all , that it ’s a question of “ not if , but when ” a given pot will experience a data breach .
But that ’s why culpability must be weigh against the company ’s own conduct in the consequence of a breach : Did it needlessly put consumer in harm ’s way by disregarding its obligations to surety ? Did the company respond fleetly , doing everything in its power to protect those unnatural , send word them promptly of any lingering endangerment ? Equifax ’s response , which include waiting over a month to give notice the public and repeatedlyfailingto detect easily patch security exposure , does not the mustard greens cut .
We ’ve reached out to the Democrats on Representative Ratcliffe ’s citizens committee to see if his idea has earn any bipartisan support . ( So far , taking it to Equifax has been spectacularly bipartisan affair ! ) And we ’ve asked DHS if they ’re considering Ratcliffe ’s investigation . We ’ll update when we get a response .
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