Companies want to be your identity service providers and see the Social Security Administration as a test case for making verification more consistent and interoperable.

The tax-collection agency perceived as far back as September that the system could be a target but decided to keep it online.

A newly released report by the Government Accountability Office notes that OPM is providing coverage at a level that is “likely unnecessary” because “claims paid rarely exceed a few thousand dollars.”

The IRS has been dealt another blow its fight against tax fraud, announcing Monday that its​ temporarily suspended the use of the Identity Protection PIN tool.