2. The ongoing scourge of identity theft

Right from the start of the year, data security and identify theft were a huge issue, with the IRS issuing warnings about phishing and other scams on what seemed a monthly basis. In March, the service even had to suspend its system for helping victims of ID theft because of security issues with the system, and in the summer it held a Security Summit with software vendors and other stakeholders to come up with a battle plan; by the end of the year, the new informational program was in full swing.