The IRS and the Security Summit concluded their eight-week summer awareness campaign by urging tax professionals to implement stronger security measures to protect themselves and their clients from escalating identity theft threats. This final installment of the “Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself” series focused on the importance of safeguarding sensitive information against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

Throughout the campaign, the IRS highlighted the alarming trend of identity thieves targeting tax professionals to harvest personal and financial data. Despite the Security Summit’s efforts since its inception in 2015, which have successfully bolstered the tax system’s defenses, cybercriminals have adapted by focusing on more direct methods to compromise tax professionals. In the first half of 2024 alone, nearly 200 data breaches involving tax professionals have been reported, potentially affecting up to 180,000 clients.

Key recommendations from the IRS include implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and adhering to a Written Information Security Plan (WISP), as mandated by the Federal Trade Commission. These steps are crucial for ensuring that only authorized individuals can access sensitive tax information, thereby reducing the risk of data breaches. The IRS also stressed the importance of recognizing phishing schemes and social media scams that attempt to deceive tax professionals into divulging sensitive information.

As the campaign wraps up, the IRS and the Security Summit continue to provide resources and guidance to help tax professionals stay vigilant. By adopting these enhanced security measures, tax professionals can better protect their clients and contribute to the overall integrity of the tax system in the face of ongoing cyber threats.

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