April is tax season whether we like it or not, but experts are calling it a 'phishing epidemic' season as well.
You receive an email from your tax software provider:"There's been some unusual activity on your account," it reads."Please click on this link to reset your password."
Now a new report by Global Cyber Alliance, a cyber-security research firm based in New York and London, found that some of the most popular tax software providers don't use enough email protections to secure communications with customers. To be sure, the report determined the safety of these providers based on just one criterion — whether or not they use a highly secure method known as DMARC , which weeds out phony emails from phishers.
Almost half of taxpayers who file federal income taxes use tax prep software, according to personal finance website NerdWallet. In 2016, one in 131 emails contained malware, the highest rate in 5 years, according to Symantec, a digital security company. He said those include DomainKeys Identified Mail or"DKIM," which verifies email senders and Sender Policy Framework or"SPF," which prevents sender address forgery. It's also in the process of updating its DMARC protocol, Gause said."TurboTax takes the security of our customers and their data seriously," said Lisa Greene-Lewis, senior communications manager at TurboTax.
"The number of attacks are rising and consumers should chose the service that provides the highest level of security," Di Crescenzo said.A quick glance at the email address might have you believe it's legitimate, but if you scroll over it with your mouse, you'll see that the address is completely different — and suspicious.
Try not to click on any links within an email, said Engin Kirda, professor at the College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern University.If you have to click: Do it on a smartphone, which are still less targeted by hackers than traditional desktop, he said.Your tax software provider typically should only require you to input such data by logging directly into your account.
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