The Internal Revenue Service handed breach-beleaguered Equifax a $7.25 million for identity verification and fraud prevention. 

The sole source, no-bid contract was awarded at the end of September, even after the credit reporting company disclosed a breach that exposed the information of 145.5 million U.S. consumers and prompted the abrupt retirement of three executives as well as congressional and regulatory probes.

"This action was to establish an order for third party data services from Equifax to verify taxpayer identity and to assist in ongoing identity verification and validations needs of the Service," according to a notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website, which said "a sole source order is required to cover the timeframe needed to resolve the protest" on a contract. "This is considered a critical service that cannot lapse."