Congressman: IRS data breach ‘extremely troubling’

Upon learning of a massive data breach at the Internal revenue Service (IRS), in which the personal and financial information on more than 100,000 U.S. citizens reportedly has been compromised, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, voiced his concerns in a statement on Wednesday over the security strength of  computer systems in the federal government.

“News of a data breach at the Internal Revenue Service is extremely troubling,” Crenshaw said. “I have reached out to the agency this morning and fully expect the IRS to address deficiencies in the design or operation of their information technology security.”

The IRS said on Wednesday that a major cyber breach occurred within its systems, allowing criminals to steal the tax returns of nearly 104,000 people. A CNN report said the agency believes the breach originated from somewhere inside Russia.

Using compromised personal data, criminals reportedly tried to access the tax accounts of over 200,000 people and were successful in about half of the attempts.

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) said the breach is of major concern because instead of hacking the IRS system, the identity thieves “went in the front door of the IRS and unlocked it with the key.”

The IRS Criminal Investigation Unit, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are all investigating the incident.

“Any level of compromise to taxpayer information is unacceptable, and we need to understand how the IRS will assist affected taxpayers and will prevent future hacking incidences,” Crenshaw said. “American taxpayers deserve nothing less.”