House Cyber Leader Wants to Give Equifax the Kaspersky Treatment

=

= Mike Stewart/AP File Photo

Rep. John Ratcliffe wants DHS to issue a binding operational directive to end a $7 million Equifax contract with IRS.

A congressional cyber leader wants the Homeland Security Department to use the same authority it used to ban Kaspersky software from government systems to cancel a $7 million IRS contract with the breached credit rating agency Equifax.

Equifax, which recently disclosed a data breach that compromised information about more than 140 million Americans, “displayed cybersecurity negligence of epic proportions,” Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, said.

He urged Homeland Security “in the strongest possible terms” to use powers outlined in the 2015 Cybersecurity Act and a 2014 update to the Federal Information Security Management Act to “address this troubling development.”

A spokeswoman clarified that Ratcliffe, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee’s cybersecurity panel, was referring to Homeland Security’s power to issue “binding operational directives” that force federal agencies to improve their cybersecurity.

The spokeswoman would not say whether Ratcliffe wants Homeland Security to ban Equifax from all government systems as it did with Kaspersky software in September or to do something less severe.

“He’s calling on DHS to use its authorities to address this development,” she said.

Homeland Security officials made the unprecedented move to ban software from the Russian antivirus maker Kaspersky Lab from all U.S. government computer systems last month following months of concerns that the company might be doing the bidding of Kremlin officials.

The decision to ban Kaspersky was based largely on public reports about ties between the company and top Russian officials, a Homeland Security cyber official said Tuesday.

There is no definitive public evidence of collusion between Kaspersky and the Russian government and the company has vehemently denied any such connection.

IRS awarded the $7 million identity management contract to Equifax on Sept. 30, about three weeks after the company first announced the massive data breach.

Equifax, which won an earlier generation of the contract, had protested IRS’s decision to award a follow-on portion of the contract to another vendor.

Because the Government Accountability Office, which adjudicates government contract disputes, had not issued a decision in that case before the original contract expired, IRS granted Equifax a $7 million bridge contract to retain identity management services until the GAO decision comes down, IRS Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Tribiano said Wednesday.

Such protests and delays are extremely common on high value government contracts.

The Equifax breach compromised the Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers of about half of all Americans. Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith, who resigned in the wake of the breach, is scheduled to appear before a quintet of congressional committees this week.

“Americans place their faith in federal agencies – the IRS most certainly included – to safeguard vast amounts of their highly sensitive personal information,” Ratcliffe said. “As the lead civilian cybersecurity agency, DHS should play an important role in ensuring federal agencies engage in responsible cybersecurity behavior, so we can maintain the confidence of the American people.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.