"Scary stuff" UPDATE: the hack was TurboTax (NEWER UPDATE)

[suffragette]

151. TurboTax Temporarily Halts E-Filing In All States Amid Fraud Concerns

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2015/02/06/turbotax-temporarily-halts-e-filing-in-all-states-amid-fraud-concerns/

Individual State Departments of Revenue are loathe to name names but have been quick to point the finger away from their own systems.

The State of Alabama Department of Revenue released a statement yesterday about fraud concerns, saying only, “The fraudulent filings originate from data compromised through a third-party commercial tax preparation software process and were detected through ADOR’s fraud detection systems.” They were quick to assure taxpayers, however, that “[o]ur systems have not been compromised.” Just two weeks into tax season, however, the number of suspicious returns in the state has already hit 16,000, all of which were “filed suspected of fraud from the third-party commercial tax preparation software.”

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Following up on taxpayer concerns, Intuit announced that it is working with state agencies to address the problem. Intuit reached out to Palantir, a third party security expert, to make a preliminary investigation of the most recent fraud activities. The initial findings have led Intuit to believe that these instances of fraud did not result from a security breach of its systems. Instead, the company believes that the information used to file fraudulent returns was obtained from other sources outside the tax preparation process.

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In addition, Intuit will provide identity protection services and free credit monitoring, as well as provide access to all versions of its software or to the assistance of one of Intuit’s credentialed tax experts who will prepare taxes for affected customers at no expense.



Looks like the states that aren't naming the software are all using a singular article to refer to the issue, which indicates one software program at the center of the issue rather than multiple ones.

Intuit is so far saying they have not found a breach in TT, but they are offering to provide the usual (post barn door) monitoring to people affected.

Palantir? Where have I heard that name before?