Intuit, maker of TurboTax, provided all users the option of locking down their accounts with two-factor authentication in November 2015, after fraudulent e-filing spiked last year. Tax refund fraud happens when criminals use stolen personal information to file a falsified tax return claiming a refund. Now, the final edition of TaxAct 2015 released in January requires that users sign in with a password and code sent through a separate communications channel, TaxAct spokeswoman Shaunna Morgan said. The latest example: Criminals, between November and December 2015, sidestepped TaxAct's old ID verification system to open and print customer tax returns, according to a Jan. The private sector, by contrast, has rushed to activate so-called multifactor authentication in the aftermath of security breaches. Mired in contractual obligations and antiquated IT systems that cannot text or email the public, the Internal Revenue Service is not keeping pace with modern hacking, according to agency watchdogs. Major online tax preparation firms, within months of customer account hacks, all required many users to sign on with passwords, plus codes delivered by text or email.īut a year after crooks gamed IRS.gov to view 334,000 taxpayers' records, the agency says it will not be able to shift to stronger login procedures until after this year’s tax season.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |