10/16/2026
Your January security problem starts in October. The IRS just reminded every tax pro to lock their office down. Here is the 30-minute version.
Tax pros: the IRS issued its cybersecurity reminder on October 2, and it was aimed at us.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and this is the last calm month before client documents start flowing into your office. So here is your 30-Minute Tax Office Security Reset. Set a timer and work the list:
1) Change weak or reused passwords. Every tax software and portal login gets a strong, unique password.
2) Turn on multifactor authentication everywhere it is offered. No exceptions for "just this once."
3) Run your updates. Operating system, tax software, browser, all of it.
4) Confirm your backups actually work. A backup you have never tested is a hope, not a backup.
5) Check that client tax records are encrypted, in storage and in transit.
6) Walk your network. Who has the Wi-Fi password? Should they?
7) Review your WISP. If your Written Information Security Plan is missing, outdated, or still a template with blanks in it, that is your red flag.
8) Know your breach move before you need it: report a data breach to your IRS Stakeholder Liaison as soon as possible.
Phishing gets its own warning: the busier you get, the more convincing the fake emails look. Slow down before you click, especially in January.
Do the reset this week, while you still have the bandwidth. Comment DONE when your office is through the list, and share this with a tax pro whose "system" is a sticky note on the monitor.
