Building an Enterprise Security System

Background

The Restructuring and Reform Act mandated that the IRS focus on serving the public. This paved the way for the IRS to enhance their online presence with web applications for taxpayers and tax preparers. For the first time in the agency’s history, the IRS would grant millions of external users access to its computer systems.

Challenge

To gain the public’s trust, the IRS had to provide users with secure applications. Any hacks or breaches could jeopardize the congressional mandate to improve service. The IRS knew it needed a solution that offered the latest and greatest of capabilities. Having no experience building such a system, the IRS needed expert help from a commercial systems integrator. The IRS awarded a multibillion-dollar contract to CSC to modernize its computer systems. CSC recognized that the web single sign-on system was a cornerstone for the IRS’s future.

Services

The Solution

STP’s current leadership was tasked by CSC with leading the vision and strategy of the solution, evaluation and selection of best-in-class commercial products, and the implementation of the system. For years to come, STP would continue to play the lead role in further enhancing and integrating the system with IRS business applications. For over 7 years, 10 STP technical leads, engineers and subject matter experts built, integrated and maintained the IRS’s authentication, authorization and directory services. These services supported millions of external users and tens of thousands of IRS employees and were the foundation for the current identity and access management system that STP would also build.