Another year has passed and one of the first things on many of our to-do lists is to file our taxes. While you wait for your W2 and other tax documents arrive, take a few minutes to review the security and privacy settings in your tax preparation software. After all, our tax records contain a massive amount of personal information that we wouldn’t want to fall into the wrong hands. Use strong, unique passwords, check for multiple (perhaps dormant) accounts, and of course, enable MFA.
I’ll keep this one short because I feel like I’m beating a dead horse but it’s worth repeating. If you use applications that hold sensitive data, turn on two-step verification (also known as two-factor or multi-factor) to enable an additional layer of security on your account.
It’s tax season and many of us will be using an online tax preparation service like TurboTax. I’ve been using TurboTax for years, but the thing is, these tax services hold huge amounts of personal data. Not only your name, address, and phone number but also detailed information about your income, family, spending, health expenses, and more. What could be more sensitive?
Furthermore, after your taxes are filed, these accounts remain active throughout the year. In other words, they’re a shiny target for hackers that you probably haven’t thought about since you last filed. So if you’re using one of these services, take a moment to enable two-step where available.
Congratulations. It’s a little extra work to log in but your account is a lot more secure. Stay safe and I hope you get a big refund in 2020 (or at least don’t have to pay too much)!
