Internal Revenue Service

How do you know that the sender of an e-mail that has landed in your inbox is trying to steal your money or your identity? The message comes right out and asks for it.

Tax season means computer criminals are going to be out in force, pumping out bogus e-mails that purport to be from the Internal Revenue Service. These messages ask you to supply personal information in all kinds of scams. Often the scam e-mails offer help speeding up the preparation of tax returns or securing a big refund.

JuWanda Harris spent the last year rising before the sun to work two jobs, using the money to support her brother and sister and help her parents with everything from gas bills to toothpaste.

She lived week to week but took solace in knowing her long hours at minimum-wage jobs would pay off once she received her tax refund. She has more money withheld than needed so she can get a hefty refund each spring. This year, she was set to collect $5,100, money she was counting on to buy a car and pay back a loan.

But nine stolen digits changed everything.

Do-it-yourself cybercrime kits are driving a surge in Internet-borne computer infections.

DIY kits have been a staple in the cyberunderground for some time. But now they've dropped in price and become more user-friendly.

"If you know how to download music or a movie you have the necessary experience to begin using one of these kits," says Gunter Ollman, senior researcher at security firm Damballa.

Need help with your taxes? Good luck reaching the IRS. Three out of 10 people who call the toll-free help line this tax season won't get through to a human being -- and that's if the agency meets its goals for service.

Callers lucky enough to get through will have to wait on hold an average of nearly 12 minutes, a level of service deemed unacceptable in a report issued Wednesday by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson.

¿Está seguro de que no tiene un swap? ¿Sabe lo que significa swap? ¿No? Pues está en la misma situación de miles de españoles a los que su banco o caja les ha vendido, asociado a la hipoteca o no, un producto financiero bajo nombres como clip, cuotasegura, contratos de permuta de interés Interest Rating (IRS), stockpyme, etcétera.

A cloud-computing initiative was outlined Tuesday by the Obama administration. It aims to cut costs and reduce the government's environmental impact.

Vivek Kundra, the first U.S. chief information officer, said the government has been building multiple data centers, so many that about a quarter of its $76 billion IT budget goes to infrastructure. He noted that the Department of Homeland Security has 23 data centers.

As a result, he said, federal energy consumption doubled from 2000 to 2006. "We cannot continue on this trajectory," Kundra said.

For many of the people laid off during the recession, the next career move is a home-based business. It's an ideal solution for many, but these new entrepreneurs need to be aware of some caveats in running a company from home.

Remember the last time you used a company cell phone for a quick personal call -- or text or e-mail? Did you record the value of that call and pay taxes on it as income?

A widely ignored law from 1989 says you should have. But don't worry, the IRS thinks it's a stupid law, too.

The Obama administration asked Congress on Tuesday to repeal the tax on the personal use of company cell phones after sparking an outcry last week when it sought ideas for enforcing the law.

Gambling and science and story-telling have a complicated relationship.