A Treasury Department official told House Ways and Means Committee members in a Dec. 23 letter that the agency has found no evidence that the suspected Russia-backed breach of Federal government systems via SolarWinds Orion products exposed U.S. taxpayer data.
That’s the finding from J. Russell George, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), in response to a Dec. 18 query from Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., chairman of the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., ranking member of the subcommittee.
According to George, TIGTA first became aware of the “alleged cyberattack” on the Treasury on Dec. 13 and began working with the Internal Revenue Service’s Computer Security and Incident Response Center to determine the impact on IRS operations.
“At this time, there is no evidence that any taxpayer information was exposed,” George said. “TIGTA will continue working with the IRS in conducting additional forensic reviews and network log analysis as additional information related to this event becomes available,” he added.
