Management Report: Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Information System Security Controls
Fast Facts
The Internal Revenue Service must keep its computer systems secure to protect financial and taxpayer data. Every year since FY 1997, we have assessed whether the IRS had effective controls in place to safeguard this information.
During this year’s audit, we identified new and continuing deficiencies in information system security controls. These deficiencies affect IRS’s ability to help ensure systems are operating securely. These risks involve the potential for unauthorized access to, modification of, or disclosure of, sensitive data and programs.
Internal Revenue Service Building sign
Highlights
What GAO Found
During its audit of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) fiscal years 2019 and 2018 financial statements, GAO identified new deficiencies in information system security controls that along with unresolved control deficiencies from prior audits, collectively represent a significant deficiency in the agency’s internal control over financial reporting systems. Specifically, GAO identified 11 new deficiencies in information system security controls over certain IRS financial and tax processing systems that are relevant to internal control over financial reporting. Of the 11 new deficiencies, five were related to access controls, three were related to configuration management, one was related to segregation of duties, and two were related to information security management program controls. In a separately issued LIMITED OFFICIAL USE ONLY report, GAO communicated to IRS management detailed information regarding the 11 new deficiencies in information system security controls and made 18 recommendations to address them.
In addition, GAO found that as of September 30, 2019, IRS had completed corrective actions to address deficiencies in information system security controls associated with 13 of the 127 recommendations resulting from GAO’s prior financial audits. GAO closed these recommendations. In the LIMITED OFFICIAL USE ONLY report, GAO communicated to IRS management the status of previously reported recommendations as of September 30, 2019.
As a result, IRS has 132 GAO recommendations to address—the 114 remaining open recommendations from GAO’s prior financial audits and the 18 new recommendations GAO made in the LIMITED OFFICIAL USE ONLY report. Until these new and continuing control deficiencies, which collectively represent a significant deficiency, are fully addressed, IRS financial reporting and taxpayer data will remain unnecessarily vulnerable to unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.
Summary of GAO Recommendations to IRS for Addressing Deficiencies in Information System Security Controls
|
Information system security control area |
Open recommendations from prior audits as of September 30, 2018 |
Prior recommendations closed as of September 30, 2019 |
New recommendations resulting from FY 2019 audit |
Total remaining open recommendations |
|
Access controls |
93 |
8 |
7 |
92 |
|
Configuration management |
26 |
3 |
7 |
30 |
|
Segregation of duties |
1 |
— |
1 |
2 |
|
Contingency planning |
1 |
1 |
— |
— |
|
Information security management program |
6 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
|
Total |
127 |
13 |
18 |
132 |
Legend: FY = fiscal year; — = no recommendation made.
Source: GAO analysis of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data. | GAO-20-411R
Why GAO Did This Study
This report presents the new deficiencies in information system security controls identified during GAO’s audit of IRS’s fiscal years 2019 and 2018 financial statements based on its fiscal year 2019 testing of controls over certain IRS financial and tax processing systems relevant to internal control over financial reporting. The report also includes the results of GAO’s fiscal year 2019 follow-up on the status of IRS’s corrective actions to address deficiencies in information system security controls and associated recommendations contained in GAO’s prior years’ reports that were open as of September 30, 2018.
Recommendations
In a separately issued LIMITED OFFICIAL USE ONLY report, GAO made 18 recommendations to address 11 new deficiencies in information system security controls related to access controls, configuration management, segregation of duties, and information security management program. In commenting on a draft of the separately issued LIMITED OFFICIAL USE ONLY report, IRS agreed with GAO’s recommendations and stated that it will ensure that its corrective actions include root cause analysis for sustainable fixes. GAO will evaluate the effectiveness of IRS’s efforts to address these deficiencies during its audit of IRS’s fiscal year 2020 financial statements.