Watchdog finds cyber vulnerabilities at half of free IRS e-file sites

Nearly half of the firms approved by the Internal Revenue Service to provide free online tax filing services have received a failing grade from a cybersecurity watchdog organization.

Of the 13 free e-file services that have agreements with the IRS, the Online Trust Alliance said six of them failed a cybersecurity “audit” based on the IRS’ revised 2010 security and privacy standards.

The problem, said Craig Spiezle, executive director and founder of OTA, is that potential hackers now target every link in the supply chain of information — the taxpayers, the e-file companies and the IRS.

“Whether we like it or not, the criminals recognize that the tax season is like Christmas for them,” Spiezle said in an interview with Federal News Radio. “What’s concerning is they’re not only looking at the consumer, they’re not only trying to target and breach the IRS. They’re looking at the whole flow of the data, the supply chain and increasingly a majority of returns through e-file providers. And so, not surprisingly, cyber criminals are smart, and they are actually looking and they are trying to compromise, either directly through hacking, or by masquerading as these legitimate e-file provider companies.”

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