TaxEngine uses the latest technology to protect your tax return information from exposure to unauthorized persons. Below are some of the components of this security system:
A user name and password are required to access the system. 128-bit encryption scrambles your transmissions when crossing the Internet. VeriSign, the recognized leader in Internet security, allows you to see the security features of TaxEngine.com.
You are responsible for protecting the secrecy of your password. We recommend you not store secured pages in your cache or leave your computer unattended while you are logged into TaxEngine.
Encryption takes meaningful text and numbers and scrambles them into numerical nonsense before transmitting them across the Internet. Your tax return information becomes "all mixed up and nonsense" when encryption is in place.
The encryption process occurs for information going both directions - from your computer to the TaxEngine.com and vice versa. Encryption uses complex algorithmic formulas to create a key that is used to translate the nonsense. There are billions of potential keys, and a different key is used for each session. Your computer and TaxEngine.com's computer establish this key when they make your connection.
Because there are billions of potential keys, it would take a thief several lifetimes to come up with the exact key a specific transmission uses. Netscape estimates the basic level of encryption (40-bit or international) would take a 64-MIPS computer a year of dedicated processor time to break. Domestic, or 128-bit, encryption is exponentially more difficult to break. TaxEngine supports only 128-bit encryption to give you Internet services with your security in mind.
In order to better serve you and protect your tax return information, we use "cookies," or nuggets of data that are stored on your hard drive as a file. We use cookies to verify who you are while using TaxEngine.com. Cookies make it easier, quicker, and more secure for you to log into and use TaxEngine.com.
Cookies do not compromise privacy. Their data is usually stored on your computer's hard drive as a file or folder called "cookies," and you can delete this file anytime if you choose. The cookies in TaxEngine are only valid for the current session and shortly become invalid. Finally, cookies created by one site will only work with that specific site. Site A, for example, cannot read cookies generated by Site B and then use that information for purposes for which it was not intended. TaxEngine.com's express policy is to use cookies only for your tax return security while using TaxEngine.com.