IRS Cautions Tax Officials of Phishing E-mails

The IRS on July 10 cautioned tax professionals towards enhancing the security of their computers while keep watch over their inboxes, especially for spear-phishing e-mail scams which pretend to be a company, client or friend.

Within the Security Summit initiative, a group of three entities - the tax sector, state tax offices along with the IRS- is set to start one more series within a campaign titled "Protect Your Clients, Protect Yourself" covering the topic "Don't Take the Bait." It is crucial for tax officials to not merely be obliged but fulfill certain legal necessity within the purview of federal law towards safeguarding the information of taxpayers.

Internal Revenue Service is considering previewing one novel refresh of the blueprint of IRS.gov which will increase its usability for operators of tablets and smart-phones. People going to IRS.gov will find several web-links on the website's top page. Plenty of material and content exist there which the agency plans to simplify for the site visitors. They will have a good navigation experience as well as a blueprint which is mobile friendly as well as mobile responsive. The information IRS got in 2016 from Tax Forums truly aided in enhancing the IRS website's design features to be introduced in 2017. There will further be better search features on the refreshed portal. Accountingtoday.com posted this, July 10, 2017.

There have mostly been phishing electronic mails as the main attack medium for thefts of data from tax professionals. The IRS cautions about these phishing e-mails apparently arriving from firms/clients whom tax professionals know. These messages' purpose is for so duping the tax officials that they would willingly view an attachment, actually malicious, else click on certain web-link which ultimately causes malware infection as well as unwitting data disclosure.

Incidentally, phishing attacks against tax officials in particular aim at acquiring Electronic Filing Identification Numbers, e-Services passwords, Preparer Tax Identification Numbers, and Centralized Authorization File Numbers.

Jointly with its associates, the IRS is set to concentrate on the security matters of tax professionals under the series of Tax Forums covering 5 cities. Tax professionals have been invited to attend.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/12/2017