Leadpile's Blog» security

Social Security & The Current Economy

Natasha Aronov — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:10:00 +0000

The current economy has brought many changes to personal, business and government financial standings and now is showing effects on Social Security payouts as well. This year Social Security will have a flip in it’s financial balances, as it will begin paying out more in benefits than receiving in payroll taxes.
With the poor economic status many jobs have disappeared having 2 large effects on Social Security taxes collected. With jobs disappearing, many people applied for the benefits sooner than they had planned, as well as without as many people currently employed there are less paychecks to tax.
With the US debt rising and less taxes being collected due to unemployment it raises concern. By law, Social Security cannot pay out more than it’s balance in any year given. The often referred to “trust fund” that Social Security has serves as a way to track pay-as-you-go revenue and outlays over time, the “balance” is actually a history of its vast cash flows (a total of all past revenue minus outlays). In a year such as this, the “paper gains” from the interest earned on the securities will more than cover the difference between what it takes in and pays out.
Projections show the effects of the recession easing in the next few years with possible small surpluses reappearing in 2014 and 2015. In the following years as the baby boomers leave the work force, and start collecting rather than contributing, outlays will exceed revenue every year regardless of the economic status.

Solutions to this problem are few including raising taxes, lowering benefits, or pulling funds for general revenue.

LeadPile hopes to see bigger and better things with the economy in the future months coming!

Massive Cyber Attack Linked Possibly To North Korea

Mari Holt — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:25:29 +0000

In recent news it was announced that there was a widespread cyber attack that hit dozens of government websites, and some nongovernment websites. While Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the software attack, which lasted for days over the holiday weekend, others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption. These sort of cyber attacks are known as “denial of service” attacks. Websites are inidated with so much internet traffic that they are forced to be taken offline. It is not confirmed that this is 100% related to North Korea, however fingers are being pointed their way. This brings up the question about security on the internet and also with our government agencies. How can occurances like this be prevented with all the sophistication of these sort of hackers? One thing I do know is that the internet is a revolving “monster” that all agencies and companies need to constantly be upgrading their systems to keep protected.

Internet Data Thieves Eyeing Tax Filers

Mari Holt — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:18:28 +0000

Tax Day is just about here and many Americans are scrambling to file their taxes. According to Internet News, 87 million tax returns were filed electronically in 2008. This means a lot of extra personal information is circulating on the internet for thieves to get their dirty paws on.

Data thieves used to be interested in credit card numbers, however with all the added security a credit card has, there is now not much use for just a card number. Therefore, things such as tax returns are very attractive because they contain everything from banking information to personal information that can be maliciously used. Experts suggest if you are filing your taxes online that you install some sort of internet security package and scan your PC for malware. Another crime tax filers should watch out for is the individuals that prepare your online tax returns. Using a trusted company to help you with your taxes seems to be the best option. As I have pointed out on a previous Leadpile blog post, BE AWARE where you enter your information and this also applies to you with your tax returns.

DON’T forget to file your taxes by April 15th!