Surely, you’ve heard of a particularly sophisticated type of cybersecurity threat called phishing. Varying forms exist, but the most common is that a website or communication is designed to mimic official channels.
Unaware customers or personnel visit the portal and provide highly sensitive information, including things like credit and payment info, login credentials and passwords and much more. The unscrupulous parties on the other side then collect said data and use it for nefarious means, while those affected are none the wiser, at least until they notice something strange happening with their accounts.
This is almost exactly the scenario that could play out with modernchatbots, especially considering chat and communication tools have become widely adopted by companies for customer support.
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It means that ― similar to a phishing attack ― hackers could potentially take control of these systems and impersonate official brand employees or representatives, with the intent to mine sensitive data. Outside of the more complex scams, hackers could also simply leverage stolen data gained through a security breach or vulnerability.
Chatbots and AI Are Not InfallibleDespite the rising adoption of modern data systems and technologies, security breaches continue to occur at alarming rates. Between January 1, 2017, and March 20, 2018, a total of 1,946,181,599 records have been compromised, containing highly sensitive and personal information.
Furthermore, during a survey that involved 1200 U.S. enterprises, a nerve-wracking 71 percent indicated that they had suffered at least one data breach.
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It’s not as if those data breaches are confined to a single platform or type of system either. Chatbots and AI-based communication tools are just as vulnerable and pose just as lucrative a target for hackers.
In one hack that affected both Sears and Delta Air Lines , malware was used to infect a customer support system to abscond credit and payment info, expiration dates, CVV security codes and personal details.
Another Microsoft chatbot is being used to warn against and combat human trafficking . While yes, it’s being used in a more positive way to stop such grievances, it’s easy to see how someone more nefarious could take inspiration from the system to damage others. Imagine a bot that lulls you into a false sense of security, collects highly sensitive information or details and then turns around and blackmails you for money ― or worse.
Why Are Chatbots a PrimeTarget?There are a couple of reasons why chatbots serve as a prime target for hackers or would-be criminals. For starters, they are often automated and unmanned, leaving little to no room for checks and balances. Once an attacker has full control, they are free to wreak havoc, at least until someone notices what’s happening ― which could take some time.
Second, people tend to trust chatbots and communication tools regardless of who or what could be on the other side. If the system directs them to another page, asks them to provide information or tells them to log in through a phishing portal a great deal will do it, no questions asked. About 69 percent of consumers prefer to use chatbots for quick communications with brands and businesses.
So, it’s vital that organizations and developers get these platforms right, which means securing them as much as possible from outside influence and tampering. One way to mitigate risk is to build chatbots as a proof of concept before rolling them out more actively across an operation or enterprise. This allows you to gauge early on how the bot is going to be used, what kind of data and information it’s going to handle, and what connections will be necessary, particularly to secure the relevant information.
If the bot is going to be handling credit and payment info or highly-sensitive details ― like social security numbers ― it’s then warranted to leverage data encryption measures for the connections and transfer of data.
This also means the developers can scale up or down the data collection procedures as necessary. If a bot is collecting too much info ― or people are telling it way too much ― it can be tweaked to eliminate this from happening.
Where the data is going matters, too. If the information is being passed to a remote system or data storage facility, then organizations must ensure it’s secure and free of outside influence, too. It’s no different from any other form of cybersecurity in the modern age.
Knowing chatbots and communication tools are vulnerable, how they can be used and what that means for everyone involved is the best way to go about locking it down.