Turbotax hacked 2014

Monitoring the geographic location of the taxpayer's log-in would be an example of dynamic ID proofing, Litan said, if tax collection agencies compared this year's locale to that of previous e-filed returns. Here are the latest Insider stories.

More Insider Sign Out. Sign In Register. Sign Out Sign In Register. Latest Insider. Check out the latest Insider stories here. More from the IDG Network. Intuit stops TurboTax e-filing of state returns after fraudulent filing spikes. Intuit backpedals from TurboTax changes after upgrade uproar. Finding critical business data -- fast. Be aware that the date and time will be accurate, but the location may be less accurate, especially if you are using a cell phone.

Determining location from an internet address is notoriously prone to error. But, any overseas access is definitely a problem. If there are log ins you don't recognize, you can call customer support, and also take steps below to secure your account better. To secure your account, log in to your Turbo tax account by typing the address into your browser window, and make sure your browser shows a padlock icon or whatever symbol it uses to indicate a secure verified connection.

Change your password, and make sure it is not something you use on other web sites. Change your security question to something that a crook could not guess from social media. Make sure your email address and cell phone number are up to date as Turbotax may use that to help verify future attempts to log in. You also have the option to turn on 2-factor authentication for all log-ins. With 2-factor authentication, Turbotax will send a code to your email or cell phone when you try to log in.

Commission spokesman Charlie Roberts said it found that personal information has been stolen from previous returns filed through TurboTax. He said the commission is not yet sure if other programs and companies were affected, nor if the data was stolen from the cloud or some other means.

TurboTax is a huge enterprise serving millions of individual tax filers. Those most likely to be affected by something like this are the ones who don't have complicated tax returns and are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit or other tax refunds. These security breaches point to the weakness of using Social Security numbers as identity confirmation.

With millions of them in the wild, thanks to the hack on Anthem, it's hard to imagine how they serve as a reliable identifier anymore. It's possible that these hacks will serve to drive solutions to identity provenance that doesn't rely on a single number issued by the US government, but it's hard to imagine that happening fast enough to protect those whose identity is currently at risk.

Update: I should have noted in my original post that TurboTax spends millions to lobby for complicated tax returns, because if they were simple, we could just file them directly with the government without the middleman. It appears that they're less diligent about how they guard the data they collect. For 17 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies.

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