Finmin says E-filers’ I-T Accounts not Secure 

E-filers of income tax (I-T) beware! Income tax online return accounts of certain people have been unauthorisedly accessed, the finance ministry has warned.

Replying to an RTI (right to information) query, the ministry said a process of “multifunctional authentication” has been designed and will be in place shortly to address any illegal access to e-filers’ accounts.

It, however, said no instance of “hacking”, which implies a breach of security whereby the hackers can obtain passwords by entering into the system, has happened or reported in the case of e-filling website. “However, there have been instances when the authentication details of certain class of e-filers have been obtained by persons from sources other than the website and then the passwords were reset and the e-filing account accessed,” the ministry said.

To address the issue, a process of multifunctional authentication has been designed and shall be in place shortly. Details thereof cannot be provided due to security reasons, it said in reply to an RTI query filed by Press Trust of India.

The ministry was asked to give detail on hacking of income tax returns filing accounts of individuals and measures being taken by it to check such activities.

Mumbai Police had in 2013 claimed that e-filing accounts of Anil Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan among others were unauthorisedly accessed.

Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 08-04-2014