Learn how TaxSlayer keeps tax payers data safe and secure with Bugcrowd

Opportunity

TaxSlayer successfully completed more than 10 million state and federal e-filed tax returns in 2018 and processed $12 billion in refunds. TaxSlayer is highest rated for ease of use, speed of filing, best value and most trusted according to the 2017-18 American Online Tax Satisfaction Survey. Customers rate TaxSlayer’s TrustScore is an 8.5 out of 10 on Trustpilot. Given the nature of their business, having security built into its software is paramount.

Challenge:

TaxSlayer deals with some of the most personal and sensitive data out there.
While they were using a variety of application security testing solutions, they worried vulnerabilities were falling through the cracks.

Solution with Bugcrowd:

Implementing a private bug bounty program with Bugcrowd provided the visibility TaxSlayer needed to quickly find critical vulnerabilities.

Program Results

A private bug bounty program allowed TaxSlayer to harness the power of the Elite Crowd in a more controlled environment.
TaxSlayer not only uses the vulnerability information to remediate vulnerabilities but also has used it as a training tool for the security and development teams.
The program paid for itself in less than one month.

In the tax preparation software industry, we deal with highly sensitive data for a large number of individuals. You can pretty much learn anything you want to know about an individual from their tax return. And because of that, we need to make sure the data stays completely secure, which starts with making sure the applications we’re developing are secure as well.

Michael Blache CISO, TaxSlayer