Bolstering Security During Tax Season: Tips from Sam Elliott

April 15^th is right around the corner – is your organization being smart when it comes to preparing for tax season? In a recent slideshow published in CSO Online, Bomgar’s Sam Elliott provides five security considerations for organizations to be mindful of this time of year (and all the time, for that matter): phishing schemes, attacks targeting privileged users, and hackers accessing accounts of third-party vendors – just to name a few.

Check out the below tips outlining how companies and employees alike can be “security smart” this tax season:

Prevent The Long Con – Phishing scams are sophisticated and may be planned over a significant period of time. In the article, Sam urges companies to keep this in mind and take necessary measures to secure important information not just during tax season, but throughout the year.

Invest in two-factor authentication and encryption – Tax season often signals an increase in vendor activity as companies must provide W9 forms and other tax-related documents. Sam encourages companies to invest in two-factor authentication “that utilizes something a user knows (password) with something they have (device)” or encryption to reduce the attack surface for a company.

Audit and keep auditing – Many companies will audit remote access once and not follow up. Sam explains that by auditing access quarterly and capturing a log of all activity, including third-party sessions, the chances of addressing any suspicious access before it results in a breach are higher.

Protect privileged credentials: Phishing attacks are more frequent than ever and cybersecurity risks and initiatives targeting privileged users are on the rise. In his piece, Sam underscores that organizations must lock down legitimate credentials. He warns that employees and third parties shouldn’t be treated as a single entity—rather, organizations must determine how much access each employee and external partner needs to do their job and grant access solely to those networks and systems.

Educate your organization – Encouraging managers and employees across departments to be on the lookout for email and social media phishing scams is a key piece of advice that Sam offers. Given the changing landscape of cyber threats, these attacks are continually evolving and keeping organizations on their toes. Sam also advocates for regular training sessions and for companies to create a culture of continued learning in order to maintain safety.

For more information about the security concerns surrounding tax season and ways your company can be smarter, read the full article on CSO Online. If you want more details on securing privileged access, Bomgar Privileged Access is the fastest way to protect your most critical assets from cyber threats.