DNS filtering purpose-built for accounting firms and CPAs. Protect client financial data from tax season restricted content surges, ensure IRS compliance, meet AICPA professional standards, and achieve SOC 2 readiness with a single network-level security control.
Accounting firms are custodians of the most sensitive financial data in existence. Tax returns, bank statements, payroll records, W-2s, and complete financial histories for hundreds or thousands of clients make accounting firms irresistible targets for cybercriminals seeking identity theft and financial fraud material.
Tax season creates a perfect storm of vulnerability: staff work long hours under extreme deadline pressure, temporary workers join the team with minimal security training, and restricted content campaigns specifically targeting accounting professionals surge by over 400% between January and April.
Our content classification team maintains dedicated coverage of web-based risks targeting accounting professionals. We track restricted domains impersonating the IRS, state tax authorities, major accounting software vendors, and professional organizations like the AICPA -- the exact lures that attackers use to compromise accounting firm credentials.
The 90-million-domain database includes granular categorization for accounting-specific content risks: fake e-filing portals, fraudulent tax preparation software download sites, restricted pages mimicking QuickBooks, Sage, Xero, and CCH, and domains used in W-2 restricted content campaigns that target accounting firms specifically because of the volume of sensitive data they hold.
During tax season, we activate enhanced monitoring with accelerated classification feed updates, catching newly registered restricted domains within hours of registration -- before the campaigns even begin targeting your firm's employees.
Protecting hundreds of clients' most sensitive financial data year-round
The January-to-April tax season creates peak vulnerability. Staff work 70+ hour weeks, temporary workers access client data, and attackers launch targeted campaigns knowing that exhausted professionals are more likely to click restricted links. DNS filtering provides automated protection that does not depend on human vigilance.
A single breach at an accounting firm exposes every client's financial life. Unlike a corporate breach affecting one company's data, a compromised accounting firm leaks the tax returns, bank accounts, and social security numbers of hundreds of individuals and businesses simultaneously.
IRS Publication 4557 requires tax professionals to implement specific data security measures including email protection, network security, and data encryption. Failure to comply can result in penalties, loss of PTIN privileges, and liability for client damages resulting from data breaches.
Attackers craft highly convincing fraudulent emails that appear to come from the IRS, state revenue departments, or even specific clients. These emails link to domains designed to steal e-filing credentials, tax preparation software logins, or client portal access that gives criminals direct access to financial records.
Migration to cloud accounting platforms like QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks introduces DNS-dependent attack surfaces. Man-in-the-middle attacks, credential restricted content for cloud portals, and malicious browser extensions targeting accounting sites all rely on DNS resolution that can be protected through filtering.
Most accounting firms lack dedicated IT security staff. Partners and office managers manage technology alongside their professional responsibilities. DNS filtering provides enterprise-grade security that operates autonomously, requiring minimal technical expertise to deploy and maintain effectively.
Year-round protection with tax season reinforcement
Real-time blocking of domains impersonating IRS.gov, state tax portals, and e-filing services. Our system catches newly registered IRS restricted domains within hours, protecting your staff from the most common tax season attack vector.
Automatically tighten filtering policies during January-April. Block personal email, social media, and non-work sites on workstations handling client data. Relax policies post-season without manual intervention.
Enforce DNS-level network segmentation between client engagement environments. Prevent cross-contamination of client data through network isolation policies that restrict each workstation's domain access scope.
Pre-built evidence collection for SOC 2 Type II audits covering the Security and Confidentiality trust service criteria. Demonstrate continuous monitoring, access controls, and content filtering with exportable audit reports.
Extend DNS filtering to staff working from home during tax season. Lightweight agents protect remote workstations with the same policies enforced in the office, ensuring client data security regardless of work location.
Executive-level reporting for managing partners showing firm-wide security posture, content filtering metrics, and compliance status. Understand your firm's risk profile without needing technical security expertise.
Protecting client data from engagement acceptance through record retention
A 50-person CPA firm activated tax season enhanced filtering mode in January. During the four-month filing season, DNS filtering blocked 2,100 attempts to access restricted domains impersonating the IRS, state tax authorities, and the firm's e-filing software vendor. Three of those blocked domains were active credential harvesting campaigns specifically targeting the firm's EFIN.
A regional accounting firm pursuing SOC 2 Type II certification implemented DNS filtering as a key security control. The automated compliance reporting provided the continuous monitoring evidence that auditors required, helping the firm achieve certification three months ahead of schedule and win a major client engagement that required SOC 2 compliance from their accounting provider.
An accounting firm that hires 20 temporary staff each tax season deployed DNS filtering with strict policies for temporary worker workstations. These policies blocked personal email, cloud storage, and social media access from machines handling client data, preventing the data leakage risks inherent in granting network access to short-term employees handling sensitive financial records.
A multi-office accounting practice with locations in three states centralized their DNS filtering management. Each office received consistent content filtering, while local variations (like state-specific e-filing portal allowlisting) were handled through location-specific policy layers. The managing partner monitors all offices from a single dashboard during their weekly security review.
Deploy DNS filtering that blocks tax season content risks and supports your compliance obligations
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