While the code is 60 years old, the hardware is modern. According to this article, the component that failed is about 18 months old. When they talk about the so

While the code is 60 years old, the hardware is modern. According to this article, the component that failed is about 18 months old. When they talk about the software and hardware "no longer being supported", I think they really mean that the original target platforms are only present in the form of emulated software. IBM still supports execution of System/360 software on the System z. [1] "Overall IRS maintains over 20 million lines of assembly code. These millions of lines of archaic software, and hardware, that is no longer supported become more difficult and costly to maintain each year, and poses significant cybersecurity risks. To IRS’ credit it keeps these old systems running during filing season, but relying on these antiquated systems for our nation’s primary source of revenue is highly risky, meaning that the chance of having a failure during the filing season is continually increasing." - David Powner, director of IT management issues for the Government Accountability Office [0] "[IRS Chief Information Officer Gina Garza] explained the code for the IMF was written in the 1960s, but the hardware it runs on is modern." [0] [0] https://federalnewsradio.com/technology-main/2017/10/a-sense-of-urgency-as-irs-legacy-it-systems-grow-increasingly-older/ https://federalnewsradio.com/technology-main/2017/10/a-sense... [1] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/50-years-ago-ibm-created-mainframe-that-helped-bring-men-to-the-moon/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/50-ye...