Data security

The omnibus spending bill signed into law last week gives the Internal Revenue Service an additional $290 million in funds – but it must be spent only taxpayer services and efforts against tax-related identity theft.

Our editors’ picks for what made news in the profession this year (text version)

The American Institute of CPAs has created an illustrative SOC 2 report to help CPAs report on controls over protected health information.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to make improvements in the way it assists victims of tax-related identity theft after a new government report says further improvements are needed.

The Internal Revenue Service sent out an alert Tuesday warning tax preparers about an phishing email message purporting to ask them to update their IRS e-Services information.

The Internal Revenue Service is beginning the next round of its battle against tax-related identity theft by debuting a public awareness campaign to persuade more taxpayers to safeguard their personal information, in conjunction with tax preparation companies and state tax authorities.

For filing season 2016, the Internal Revenue Service will test a capability to verify the authenticity of W-2 data as part of a series of steps to combat tax-related ID theft and refund fraud.

In accounting, there is a best practice that CPAs know they should implement but often put off: encryption.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to improve its detection of business identity theft, according to a new government report.

The Internal Revenue Service is cautioning tax preparers that they are prime targets for identity thieves who are looking for data to use when filing fraudulent tax returns.

The Internal Revenue Service met with a group of state tax administrators and tax industry leaders Tuesday to discuss additional steps they are taking for next tax season to strengthen safeguards against identity theft and tax refund fraud.

Camico is offering insurance coverage to protect CPAs from losses caused by a variety of different “cyber risks.”

Top executives at mid-market companies increasingly see technology as a strategic asset that can drive competitive advantage and are taking a more active role in technology decisions, according to a new report from Deloitte.

Accountants need to be at the forefront of cybersecurity to safeguard the sensitive personal and corporate financial information they handle, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service did not finish testing a centralized data repository of health insurance coverage with federal and state exchanges in time for last tax season, according to a new government report.

Certify, a company that specializes in expense management software, wants to draw attention to the problem of expense report fraud.

One of the leaders of the Senate’s main tax committee is sounding the alarm about proposed budget cuts at the Internal Revenue Service and warning that it could encourage identity theft, tax evasion and tax fraud by crime syndicates.

I recently discussed the value of surveillance and, according to a comment on that post, I hit a nerve.

A group of law firms has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of an estimated 330,000 taxpayers who were affected by a data breach in the IRS’s online Get Transcript application.

Ernst & Young announced a strategic business relationship with Hortonworks to provide new data management offerings that leverage and extend Hortonworks Data Platform.