[Ritaxpronews] Rhode Island Division of Taxation -- security measures for tax preparers

[Downing, Neil (DOR)]

The Internal Revenue Service, the Rhode Island Division of Taxation, and other partners in the Security Summit today urged tax professionals to take additional security steps immediately to protect taxpayer data as more practitioners telework and security risks increase.


  *   VPN: All tax professionals who are teleworking should be using an encrypted virtual private network, also known as a VPN. A VPN provides a secure, encrypted tunnel to transmit data between a remote user via the internet and the company network.



  *   Security code: Use multi-factor authentication, which most tax software providers are offering this year. This feature requires the returning software user to enter not only the user’s credentials (username/password) but also a security code, generally sent as a text to a mobile phone, for added security.



  *   Phishing scams: Identity thieves have stepped up phishing scam efforts to capitalize on the new federal stimulus payments (also known as recovery rebates, COVID-19 payments, or economic impact payments). Criminals are targeting tax professionals as well as taxpayers. Beware of emails from criminals posing as potential clients. Criminals may try to trick tax practitioners into opening links or attachments.



  *   Security software: Everyone, especially tax professionals, should use broad-based security software that protects not just their computers but mobile phones as well. Security features will help to identify and stop potentially dangerous malware that can infect digital networks.


For more information, see the IRS's “Safeguarding Taxpayer Data”<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.irs.gov_pub_irs-2Dpdf_p4557.pdf&d=DwIF-g&c=tSLbvWYfvulPN3G_n48TUw&r=3N0CXa2u4V7_DU38-YjSBY2i0S2qGG60dynqKUqOstM&m=Wldu8hKqMa4dGqN-gPYtEI1hSkAOyHMaGoTyCZh4Xfc&s=iKi831W3rpEmBxNvAJ0dQJwkfOXZJeicUCsaRj9-rb4&e= > guide.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://listserve.ri.gov/pipermail/ritaxpronews/attachments/20200414/54996d5f/attachment.html