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‘Taxpayer information is fully protected’
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Posted on Nov 05 2021
Division of Revenue and Taxation director Tracy Norita said Friday that taxpayer information at their office is absolutely fully protected from breach due to upgrades in the government’s information technology system.
In response to a question if the Revenue and Taxation office is fully protected considering that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s system was recently breached, Norita said they are under the Office of Information Technology and because of the support of Finance Secretary David DLG. Atalig and Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, they’ve made a lot of security upgrades in that department.
“So I know that we have not been breached, and that our taxpayer information is absolutely secured,” she said.
Atalig acknowledged that the CNMI is not immune to cyberattacks and that there are indeed instances when cyber ransomware try to breach the CNMI’s systems but Atalig said that what they’ve done is invest heavily in securing all of the government’s servers and computers.
He said that is just part of the movement they have with centralizing Information Technology and the creation of the Office of Information Technology under the Department of Finance.
Atalig said they’re having a lot of challenges also with the new system in getting people access and to ensure they won’t alter security protocols just to access the system.
“And that’s why as we talk about our system, the main driver is securing our taxpayer data, as well as all our financial information for the Commonwealth government,” Atalig said.
In an executive order issued last April 27, Torres directed Atalig to create the Office of Information Technology, with the chief information officer serving under and reporting directly to Atalig.
Torres said the lack of a centrally coordinated efforts on unified software platforms has placed the government at great risk of cyberattacks.
