With the advent of AI came in solutions and products that aimed to reduce redundant work done by humans. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been chastised by many for killing jobs and that is the reason why AI was formed in a way to help humans.

The current role of AI in the workplace is aiding humans in their work processes. Yet, human role and intervention is often needed because human precision can never be mimicked completely by a machine.

Chatbots were developed in the same manner to help people get their fundamental queries answered. It is hence time that we read about them in some detail and find out ways to keep them safe on the internet.

A chatbot – what is it and how does it work?

As defined by experienced professionals, a chatbot is a computer program created to imitate human conversation through either text or voice messages. Anyone can command or ask the chatbot a question, and it will either respond to the question or carry out the action requested.

Chatbots copy human conversations and patterns with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI), techniques like Natural Language Processing (NLP), as well as analysis of images, audio and video files.

One of the most exciting features of chatbots are that they learn from mistakes (previous interactions) and become intelligent and smart over time. They hence turn into smart bots (aka AI bots).

Fine examples of chatbots

Chatbots come in different shapes and sizes. As a matter of fact some businesses are using chatbots in innovative ways. They are being used for ordering food, booking some flights, and advising on numerous matters.

Yet the technology universe is not in the peak stage of chatbot development because all the latest statistics regarding chatbots point towards one thing; adoption of chatbots. Businesses of all sizes are now using them in greater numbers.

One of the finest examples is Starbucks. Its chatbot has helped make the whole process of ordering the favorite drink, snack or a combo deal streamlined. All customers have to do is order their favorite food item using either voice commands or text messages. Then the chatbot will inform them of their order’s status and will also share with them the total amount of the order.

What security risks are chatbots facing?

Chatbots have become a norm among businesses for customer interaction quite fast. In fact, a lot of companies have already been using them, or are in the early stages of creating and deploying them. Though chatbots offer a ton of benefits to both businesses and customers alike, they face numerous security threats associated with their deployment and usage.

Each firm today is in the ear;iest stages of developing chatbots. Moreover, existing solutions aren’t completely secure. In fact, they have vulnerabilities that can potentially expose the business to an array of cyber attacks. These very vulnerabilities provide hackers direct access to an organization’s network, applications and of course, the core database.

With the passage of time, chatbots will eventually mature into more advanced versions of themselves. They will learn to collect more sensitive and personal information via the aid of both machine learning abilities and artificial intelligence. Hence, it is imperative for businesses to boost chatbot platform security at all levels, especially at the foundations.

It is especially crucial for businesses to teach themselves about chatbot protection and be aware of the risks associated with their use. As a matter of fact, they must consider some vital factors like sharing and storing information, as well as placing limitations on information access.

What could happen if hackers attacked Chatbots?

Security solutions are now advanced and it indicates that attacking a server’s infrastructure is no longer an easy task. Hence, hackers are now looking to attack chatbots as a way of a proxy attack. As chatbots show near human like communication, they can be quite a good proxy for carrying out cyber attacks which can swindle unsuspecting victims for the hacker’s profit, or for the sake of amusement.

Professionals from a cheap DDoS protection service provider in Montreal reveal that a hacked chatbot can cause a lot of trouble in the customer service area for companies. THe ultimate objective of hackers would be to scan other chatbots in the same network for identifying vulnerabilities which can be exploited easily.

Once the chatbot service or framework is hacked, user data eventually is compromised. This leads to online data theft.