One problem writing about government IT is that after a
while it feels a bit like Groundhog Day – a syndrome that must be even
more pronounced for the folk working in it.
Identity disorder: Does UK govt need Verify more than we do?Victim told to buy $1300 worth of iTunes gift cards in telephone fraud ...
US account holders more likely to switch banks following fraud
More evidence that security = happy customers
US banks ‘wasting billions’ trying to track crime Financial Times. Banks want more enforcement….against third parties
High-risk ATO scam email hits Aussie inboxes
Suncorp system upgrade causes cash to disappear
Govt to publish dashboard of expensive IT projects
Is this the dumbest guy in the world?
New AI system finds tax law answers in Australia. Now, if it can just prove whether or not a dingo ate that baby.... [The Australian]
HPE blames tax office outage on faulty SSD drive
HPE blames tax office outage on faulty SSD drive
Big fix to govt's $6 billion tech woes
The Tax Lawyer has published Vol. 70, No. 1 (Fall 2016):
- Paul J. Sax (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, San Francisco) & Lawrence B. Gibbs (Miller & Chevalier, Washington, D.C.), In Memoriam: Phillip L. Mann, 70 Tax Law. 1 (2016)
- J. Ross Macdonald (Baker & McKenzie, New York), “Time Present and Time Past:” U.S. Anti-Treaty Shopping History, Policy, and Rules, 70 Tax Law. 5 (2016)
- Allen D. Madison (South Dakota), The Legal Consequences of Noncompliance with Federal Tax Laws, 70 Tax Law. 367 (2016)
- Adam S. Wallwork (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, New York), On the Use and Abuse of Legislative History in the “Preparer Fraud” Doctrine, 70 Tax Law. 403 (2016)
- So you want to switch off digitally? I’m afraid that will cost you… Guardian
- Dumb phone reveals uncomfortable truth for tech groups FT. It only takes half the article for breathless triumphalism to take over. The smart cosmopolitans at the FT just can’t seem to get their heads around the idea that there’s a market for a product that doesn’t try to sell your every waking and sleeping move to Orwellian data brokers. And that doesn’t break when you upgrade it because it never needs to be upgraded.
Facebook algorithms ‘will identify terrorists’ BBC News ...Help me ... MEdia Dragons
Could your Fitbit data be used to deny you health insurance? The Conversation (J-LS)
Mitch Maahs, Protecting Employee Information From W-2 Phishing Scams (Davis Brown Tax Law Blog):
A lot of companies talk about valuing diversity. HP is withholding legal fees from firms that fail their diversity staffing requirements. Corporate Counsel:
HOW SKYNET STARTS: Google’s New AI Has Learned to Become “Highly Aggressive” in Stressful Situations. This approach works pretty well for people. Some people thought that supersmart AI would be less aggressive. But what if it’s actually just a good approach?
Jim Maule, A Tax I Did Not Know Existed:
Unlucky in love, unlucky in taxes
Cloud Spanner: a global database service for mission-critical applications
Democratic leaders on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent a letter [February 9, 2017] to their Republican counterparts on the Committee’s majority requesting a hearing on lapses in cybersecurity in the Trump White House. “Just months ago the House Science Committee’s Republican Majority seemed to believe that cybersecurity for the President’s team was a national emergency,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “Security of emails and servers was a primary concern, requiring multiple investigatory hearings and numerous subpoenas. But this interest seems to have subsided the instant a Republican entered the White House. Cyber threats will not respect partisan ideology, and this committee should exercise its oversight role. ” Media reports have suggested possible vulnerabilities for both phones and email accounts among President Trump and his senior staff, but while the Science Committee aggressively investigated such reports during the previous administration, its interest in the topic has waned under the new administration. Numerous, recent press releases expressing concerns about the previous administration’s cybersecurity are still displayed on the Committee’s website. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Eddie Bernie Johnson (D-TX), and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) sent the letter requesting hearings to Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Darin LaHood (R-IL), and Barbara Comstock (R-VA), who lead the relevant committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity. The full letter can be read here.”
Major Blow to Obamacare Mandate: IRS Won’t Reject Tax Returns That Don’t Answer Health Insurance Question
Tim Pilgrim: mandatory data breach notifications to ‘strengthen community trust’. Some organisations don't want anyone to know when they've been hacked for fear of reputational damage, but Australian Information Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim thinks coming clean is necessary. Continue reading…
Last year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation shut down its Fact Check unit after the government halted funding. Before it closed, ABC Fact Check was one of the most notable TV fact-checking efforts worldwide. On Tuesday, ABC News announced the operation would relaunch, thanks to a new partnership with RMIT University
The scam generally operates as follows: criminals devise methods to create emails that appear as though the message has been sent from an executive or manager. The spoof emails are “sent” from the manager or executive to the organization’s HR or payroll department, and request, citing various reasons, that the recipient reply with copies of the Form W-2s for all employees. The scammers then use the employee’s information from the W-2 to file a tax return and claim a refund as that employee.When somebody wants confidential employee data, your spider-sense should tingle
A lot of companies talk about valuing diversity. HP is withholding legal fees from firms that fail their diversity staffing requirements. Corporate Counsel:
In-house legal departments regularly encourage, and in some cases require, that outside firms have some level of diversity in staffing legal work. Hewlett-Packard Inc. has taken this mandate a step further—saying the company will withhold invoiced fees from firms that do not meet diversity requirements
HOW SKYNET STARTS: Google’s New AI Has Learned to Become “Highly Aggressive” in Stressful Situations. This approach works pretty well for people. Some people thought that supersmart AI would be less aggressive. But what if it’s actually just a good approach?
A fellow named William Atzinger, age 35, refused to pay the $3 tax that Montana imposed on bachelors. In his protest communicated to the county assessor, he claimed, “Spinsters are responsible for my not being married in their refusals of my wooing in the past.”
Unlucky in love, unlucky in taxes
Cloud Spanner: a global database service for mission-critical applications
Google Cloud Platform Blog: “…we’re excited to announce the public beta for Cloud Spanner, a globally distributed relational database service that lets customers have their cake and eat it too: ACID
transactions and SQL semantics, without giving up horizontal scaling
and high availability. When building cloud applications, database
administrators and developers have been forced to choose between
traditional databases that guarantee transactional consistency, or NoSQL
databases that offer simple, horizontal scaling and data distribution.
Cloud Spanner breaks that dichotomy, offering both of these critical
capabilities in a single, fully managed service…”
Democratic leaders on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent a letter [February 9, 2017] to their Republican counterparts on the Committee’s majority requesting a hearing on lapses in cybersecurity in the Trump White House. “Just months ago the House Science Committee’s Republican Majority seemed to believe that cybersecurity for the President’s team was a national emergency,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “Security of emails and servers was a primary concern, requiring multiple investigatory hearings and numerous subpoenas. But this interest seems to have subsided the instant a Republican entered the White House. Cyber threats will not respect partisan ideology, and this committee should exercise its oversight role. ” Media reports have suggested possible vulnerabilities for both phones and email accounts among President Trump and his senior staff, but while the Science Committee aggressively investigated such reports during the previous administration, its interest in the topic has waned under the new administration. Numerous, recent press releases expressing concerns about the previous administration’s cybersecurity are still displayed on the Committee’s website. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Eddie Bernie Johnson (D-TX), and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) sent the letter requesting hearings to Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Darin LaHood (R-IL), and Barbara Comstock (R-VA), who lead the relevant committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity. The full letter can be read here.”
Major Blow to Obamacare Mandate: IRS Won’t Reject Tax Returns That Don’t Answer Health Insurance Question
Tim Pilgrim: mandatory data breach notifications to ‘strengthen community trust’. Some organisations don't want anyone to know when they've been hacked for fear of reputational damage, but Australian Information Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim thinks coming clean is necessary. Continue reading…
Last year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation shut down its Fact Check unit after the government halted funding. Before it closed, ABC Fact Check was one of the most notable TV fact-checking efforts worldwide. On Tuesday, ABC News announced the operation would relaunch, thanks to a new partnership with RMIT University
Farage Expects Another “Big Shock”, Warns EP on “More Europe”: Elites vs. Underdogs French Style MishTalk
Accident Not Your Fault? Your Insurance May Still Go Up, Report Says NYT. It doesn’t matter if you’re innocent, you still get screwed. Not that I’m bitter
