IRS Computer Tech. Are You Scared or Angry?
Oct 14, 2015 22:43:15 GMT -6
Nugget, Mystic Wanderer, and 1 more like this
Post by Charles1952 on Oct 14, 2015 22:43:15 GMT -6
I need a break. I really want a month where there is no news of another government agency involved in massive waste, stupidity, corruption, or power grabs. For the frosting, I want one day where a government agency is praised by an independent group. Is that too much to ask? Excuse me while I look for the tear my hair out and scream smiley while cursing and shooting wildly into the air. What, we don't have one?
I'm not satisfied.
All right, the government has decided to keep track of hundreds of millions of people. I get that file cards and ledger books aren't the way to go anymore, so computers get the nod. Some agencies have a greater need for computers than others. Fish and Wildlife's needs are relatively modest, at least until the first class of moose finish their class "Keyboarding for English as a Second Language Students." That pilot program was very modest in cost to set up, but they seem to be going through a lot of computers during course work.
No, if you're looking for numbers in the range of elebenty zillion, you've got to go after dollars and that's the pig sty that the IRS likes to wrestle in. Heck, they're into numbers larger than the US military, even larger than Michelle's room service bills (first term only). So it's only right that they have the shiniest computers and the most people assigned to use Windex on the Windows, send postcards to IP addresses, and use routers instead of Travelocity to plan their vacations. Face it, they are down and with it computer pros. So an article in the UK's The Register surprised me a little.
Now I'm a mush head in the world of computers, so I had to take it slowly and with an aspirin. I think I have the main idea however. To start, there are things in the computer world called "servers." They are wonderful things. They are a bit quicker than Pierre over at Chez Merde, they do not require tips, and are willing to work overtime without telling Bruno and the other union officials. They do have a drawback or two. The biggest is that by the time they bring you your food, it's cold and you don't want it anyway, having died of old age.
Please don't look up "computer servers" in Wikipedia. Unless you can write the article, you won't understand a word of it. here's the first paragraph:
That paragraph was probably written by using a random word generator and has no real meaning, so don't worry about it. Let's just say that you want your server to be big and modern, and running software that has been all polished up and freshly bug exterminated. So what are our choices for servers and their software, remembering that we're talking about the Federal government and they might as well spend bazillions on computer stuff rather than the ladies who like to show up at IRS conventions to help relax the dutiful civil servants.
Let's assume that Apple has irritated Obama in some way, and that we're going to look only at Microsoft server software. They've got a bunch, it looks kind of like the waffle page at International House of Pancakes. But we can safely get rid of any product that has the word "Home" in it, as the IRS has no interest in homes or the people who live in them. We can also toss anything with "Small Business." You can call the IRS many things, none of which I can repeat here, but "Small Business" is as far away from them as the language will take us. What are we left with?
From the newest to the oldest:
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2000
and so on back to dial up and the Commodore 64.
Half are running Windows Server 2003? That's three upgrades above cans and string. But the IRS can run old stuff as far as I'm concerned, as long as it's tested and safe.
But as I said earlier, I know that a computer is a box you can type on, but servers, and Pierre, leave me confused and frustrated. I have a sticker on my computer that tells me I have seven windows. Ooops, sorry, that's Windows 7, although I'm not clear on the difference. I've also heard there was a Windows 8 and 8.1 which, like Hillary Clinton, are wildly unpopular and causing people to switch as quick as they can. So, perhaps this is where the IRS is investing it's efforts. Again, a look at the releases may be helpful.
The most recent is Windows 10 going back from that are:
Windows 8.1
Windows 8
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows 2000
By the end of last year, they had upgraded all their computers to Windows 7 except for the 1300 computers they hadn't, and couldn't find to upgrade anyway. Windows 7, by the way, was introduced six years ago this month. Whatever else you might say about the IRS, at least they don't rush into things.
www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/14/half_irs_servers_still_running_win_2003/
I'm not satisfied.
All right, the government has decided to keep track of hundreds of millions of people. I get that file cards and ledger books aren't the way to go anymore, so computers get the nod. Some agencies have a greater need for computers than others. Fish and Wildlife's needs are relatively modest, at least until the first class of moose finish their class "Keyboarding for English as a Second Language Students." That pilot program was very modest in cost to set up, but they seem to be going through a lot of computers during course work.
No, if you're looking for numbers in the range of elebenty zillion, you've got to go after dollars and that's the pig sty that the IRS likes to wrestle in. Heck, they're into numbers larger than the US military, even larger than Michelle's room service bills (first term only). So it's only right that they have the shiniest computers and the most people assigned to use Windex on the Windows, send postcards to IP addresses, and use routers instead of Travelocity to plan their vacations. Face it, they are down and with it computer pros. So an article in the UK's The Register surprised me a little.
Now I'm a mush head in the world of computers, so I had to take it slowly and with an aspirin. I think I have the main idea however. To start, there are things in the computer world called "servers." They are wonderful things. They are a bit quicker than Pierre over at Chez Merde, they do not require tips, and are willing to work overtime without telling Bruno and the other union officials. They do have a drawback or two. The biggest is that by the time they bring you your food, it's cold and you don't want it anyway, having died of old age.
Please don't look up "computer servers" in Wikipedia. Unless you can write the article, you won't understand a word of it. here's the first paragraph:
A server is a computer program or a machine capable of accepting requests from clients and responding to them. Their purpose may be to share data or hardware and software resources among clients. This architecture is called the client–server model. Typical computing servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers.
That paragraph was probably written by using a random word generator and has no real meaning, so don't worry about it. Let's just say that you want your server to be big and modern, and running software that has been all polished up and freshly bug exterminated. So what are our choices for servers and their software, remembering that we're talking about the Federal government and they might as well spend bazillions on computer stuff rather than the ladies who like to show up at IRS conventions to help relax the dutiful civil servants.
Let's assume that Apple has irritated Obama in some way, and that we're going to look only at Microsoft server software. They've got a bunch, it looks kind of like the waffle page at International House of Pancakes. But we can safely get rid of any product that has the word "Home" in it, as the IRS has no interest in homes or the people who live in them. We can also toss anything with "Small Business." You can call the IRS many things, none of which I can repeat here, but "Small Business" is as far away from them as the language will take us. What are we left with?
From the newest to the oldest:
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2000
and so on back to dial up and the Commodore 64.
Half of America's Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) servers are running Windows Server 2003, despite extended support for it ending in July.
As a result, the US government's tax system is potentially wide open to hackers because Microsoft has officially and publicly stopped issuing security patches for the operating system.
In an effort to avoid a massive security breach, the IRS has agreed to pay Microsoft an undisclosed "premium fee" to continue to support and patch its servers . . .
It notes: "Upgrading to the new Microsoft workstation and server operating systems is critical, because older versions are not supported and regularly patched for security flaws, which makes them more vulnerable to hacking."
Despite having spent hundreds of millions of dollars, the program has also only managed to upgrade servers to Windows 2008. Not a single machine is running the more recent Windows 2012.
As a result, the US government's tax system is potentially wide open to hackers because Microsoft has officially and publicly stopped issuing security patches for the operating system.
In an effort to avoid a massive security breach, the IRS has agreed to pay Microsoft an undisclosed "premium fee" to continue to support and patch its servers . . .
It notes: "Upgrading to the new Microsoft workstation and server operating systems is critical, because older versions are not supported and regularly patched for security flaws, which makes them more vulnerable to hacking."
Despite having spent hundreds of millions of dollars, the program has also only managed to upgrade servers to Windows 2008. Not a single machine is running the more recent Windows 2012.
Half are running Windows Server 2003? That's three upgrades above cans and string. But the IRS can run old stuff as far as I'm concerned, as long as it's tested and safe.
In August, the IRS revealed that it had suffered a data breach in which 334,000 people's personal information was accessed.
But as I said earlier, I know that a computer is a box you can type on, but servers, and Pierre, leave me confused and frustrated. I have a sticker on my computer that tells me I have seven windows. Ooops, sorry, that's Windows 7, although I'm not clear on the difference. I've also heard there was a Windows 8 and 8.1 which, like Hillary Clinton, are wildly unpopular and causing people to switch as quick as they can. So, perhaps this is where the IRS is investing it's efforts. Again, a look at the releases may be helpful.
The most recent is Windows 10 going back from that are:
Windows 8.1
Windows 8
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows 2000
In addition, the IRS reported in December 2014 that it has managed to upgrade all its workstations from Windows XP to Windows 7. But it later turned out that there were 1,300 computers still running XP. Where they were, though, nobody knew because of "inaccuracies in the inventory records."
"For the IRS, the use of outdated operating systems may expose taxpayer information to unauthorized disclosure, which can lead to identity theft. Further, network disruptions and security breaches may prevent the IRS from performing vital taxpayer services such as processing tax returns, issuing refunds, and answering taxpayer inquiries," the report noted.
"For the IRS, the use of outdated operating systems may expose taxpayer information to unauthorized disclosure, which can lead to identity theft. Further, network disruptions and security breaches may prevent the IRS from performing vital taxpayer services such as processing tax returns, issuing refunds, and answering taxpayer inquiries," the report noted.
By the end of last year, they had upgraded all their computers to Windows 7 except for the 1300 computers they hadn't, and couldn't find to upgrade anyway. Windows 7, by the way, was introduced six years ago this month. Whatever else you might say about the IRS, at least they don't rush into things.
www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/14/half_irs_servers_still_running_win_2003/
