Flawed

This is not confidence-inspiring:

"The IRS is using a system that was hacked to protect victims of a hack—and it was just hacked"

Your identity data was stolen in that huge IRS hack? No problem. The IRS will issue you a secret PIN number that you can use to prove it's really you when it's time to get your refund. And what if you forget your PIN? No problem. The IRS has a system where you can answer some questions to get your PIN back.

One problem: that last system is the one that got hacked in the first place.

"Wittrock said she found out her IP PIN had been compromised by thieves this year after she tried to file her tax return on Feb. 25, 2016. Turns out, the crooks beat her to the punch by more than three weeks, filing a large refund request with the IRS on Feb. 2, 2016."

When your system's not secure,
your secrets won't endure.