february2021 - 5

FEATURE
to Keep Client Data Safe During
this Work-from-Home Tax Season
By Dave Martin, Vice President, Verifyle

THE PAST YEAR has brought with it some significant
changes to the way the world does business. Kitchens,
bedrooms and living rooms have become offices. Conference rooms have been replaced with online meetings.
While many have settled into this work-from-home norm,
others (like tax professionals and accountants) are about
to embark on yet another challenge-tax season.
For most tax professionals and
accountants, email remains the
tool of choice for sharing information electronically with clients. It
is quick, easy, and everyone has
it-even at home. However, using
email alone puts confidential
information at risk.
To keep client data safe when
working from home this tax season,
it is important to understand potential risks when sharing information
electronically, and how to manage
these risks effectively. Consider the
following.

PHISHING ATTACKS
ARE ON THE RISE.
Phishing occurs when a
perpetrator impersonates
a trusted email sender in an
attempt to get the recipient to click
a bad link. In doing so, the user
unknowingly installs malware or
ransomware on their computer.
While much has been written
about phishing attacks disguised
to appear as if they are coming
from a person's bank or social
media network, the pandemic has
created yet another opportunity for
hackers-COVID-themed phishing
attacks.
When using email to share
important information, remember
you are volunteering that informa-

tion into a system that is frighteningly easy to compromise. And
while it may be tempting to run
socially distanced business activities from your email inbox, think
twice before sharing important
information.

RECIPIENTS CAN'T
ALWAYS BE
TRUSTED.
The grim reality is people
are often careless in how they
manage their own privacy. This
is especially true when they, like
you, are trying to run everything
from their own home office. Their
internet connection might be public
or shared with neighbors. Malware
may also be running on their home
computer and there's nothing you
can do to stop or prevent it. When
sending financial details to someone over email, you not only have
to trust the security on your end,
but on the recipient's end as well.
This trust can be a gamble as home
and work lives become intertwined.

THE CLOUD IS
PROBABLY SAFER
THAN YOUR
COMPUTER.
Generally, cloud storage services are
much more secure than a laptop.
This is especially true when using

the same computer for work that
you use at home. A clever password
or seemingly unimpeachable security habits are often no match for a
talented hacker attempting to steal
or hold for ransom the data on your
hard drive by hacking your home
internet connection. The cloud is
a more secure method for sharing
and storing data.

YOUR INTERNET
CONNECTION IS
NOT AS SECURE
AS YOU THINK.
Most people assume that a home
Wi-Fi connection is as secure as
connecting at the office. This is
seldom true. Passwords are rarely
strong enough and too often they
are shared with family members
and guests. When working from
home, it's critical that access to
your internet is restricted. This
means using a strong password and
changing that password frequently.
Some routers can be configured
so that they will broadcast two
separate Wi-Fi networks in a house
with different network names and
passwords. This is a good option
for keeping family activity on one
network and business activity on
another.

PRIVACY LAWS
ARE DIFFERENT
THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD.
Another problem with email is that
messages often travel through foreign jurisdictions on their journey
from the outbox to the intended
inbox. This means that if your email
bounces onto a server in a region
where privacy isn't protected, it
can (and most likely will) be read

FEBRUARY 2021 ■

by someone other than the intended
recipient.

SMS IS NEVER
SECURE.
Most of us know that we
shouldn't send important
information over text message. But
it can be very tempting when text
messaging is the new " in-person "
meeting. What many people don't
consider is that when we use SMS
to share a private message or document, we're putting that critical
information into a position of discoverability for any hacker with the
right tools. End-to-end encryption
doesn't mean much if a hacker can
code his way into a local cell tower
and impersonate someone's device.
While it can be tempting in these
times to substitute text messaging
for those quick in-person chats you
used to have in the office, be careful
what you share over SMS.

DIGITAL SIGNATURES ARE EASY
AND EFFECTIVE.
USE THEM.
Believe it or not, in today's pandemic
environment many accounting
practices continue to invite clients
into their offices to sign tax documents. There is absolutely no reason
to do this when digital signatures
can be easily and securely acquired.
When you bring someone into
your office, even when masks are
worn, all parties are at risk. Digital
signatures are a safer alternative to
in-person transactions. ■
Dave Martin is vice president of
Verifyle, a provider of secure messaging
and file sharing solutions.

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

february2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of february2021