How to Protect Data When Using Chatbots for Customer Support

Do you know there is a catch with using chatbots and you should be careful while using them?

Chatbots are an effective tool for businesses looking to improve their customer support. With advancements in AI, chatbots are becoming smart enough to independently handle customer queries. Not only do they help businesses improve their customer support processes, but they can also save a lot of money.

However, due to the rapid increase in AI innovation, some ethical and safety concerns are coming to light. These concerns force us to question one of the most common applications of AI i.e. chatbots.

Are they safe? Do they pose a risk to business credibility?

Turns out, they carry some major risks that can result in legal complications for businesses using them.

Let us discuss how chatbots are risky for businesses, and how you can get around those risks.

How are Chatbots Risky?

Chatbots represent businesses when communicating directly with customers. They have access to valuable and confidential information of businesses and customers. This makes them vulnerable to attacks that can harm the business or the customers.

Here are some of the major risks associated with using chatbots.

Confidentiality Risks

Chatbots can access private and confidential information when interacting with customers. The fact that they are highly prone to data breaches and data leaks makes them a major risk for organizations. They are also very easy to manipulate through specific prompts and can give out sensitive information themselves.

Moreover, hackers can easily get into databases and access this information. This puts customer confidentiality at risk. Similarly, sensitive business data like financials can also be accessed through chatbots, posing a huge risk to business integrity.

Data Poisoning

Chatbots are trained on huge datasets and AI experts have no way of knowing if that data set is compromised with malicious data. Since these datasets potentially contain millions of data points, there is no way for ML engineers to filter out anything suspicious or malicious from these datasets.

This malicious data can negatively impact the chatbot’s behavior. Moreover, if anything malicious repeatedly occurs in a dataset, the chances of a chatbot learning it become very high.
Chatbots trained on compromised datasets are unpredictable and can show racist, biased, or harmful behavior.

Cybersecurity Attacks

AI chatbots are prone to cybersecurity attacks which puts the customer data and business reputation at great risk. Hackers can use prompt injection and manipulation tactics to force chatbots to divulge sensitive data.

All they need to do is enter a meticulously crafted prompt that can manipulate chatbots into leaking private information. Moreover, chatbots are also prone to hackers intercepting conversations, allowing them to gain control over the chatbots and use them for malicious purposes like impersonation and phishing.

Legal Concerns

Due to the ever-increasing cybersecurity incidents targeting customer data, businesses have to adhere to government regulations in order to protect customer data. This means that businesses have to protect customer data at all costs, otherwise they can get into legal and compliance troubles.

Now, since chatbots are vulnerable to attacks and leaking customer data, businesses using them need to be mindful of the data privacy regulations, and how using chatbots can backfire on them quickly.

How Can Businesses Reduce These Risks?

Despite the obvious risks, chatbots can provide a boatload of benefits for businesses. Therefore, these risks should not discourage businesses from using them. All they need to do is be careful and implement security measures that can lessen the risk that comes with using chatbots.

Here are some tips through which businesses can reduce these risks.

Use a Secure Internet Connection

Using an internet connection that comes with built-in security protocols can significantly reduce chatbot hacking attempts, where hackers try to intercept data packets. For instance, Xfinity Internet comes with an advanced security feature that keeps an eye out for any suspicious activity on the network through anti-virus and firewalls. You can contact Xfinity customer service to know more about their secure internet plans.

Implement Authentication Methods

You can also implement authentication methods that can limit and control access to chatbots that contain sensitive data. This includes features like multi-factor authentication, biometric authentication, and more. Not only do strong authentication methods make chatbot security multi-layered, but they also save an organization from internal attacks.

Do Regular Security Audits

Security audits can help businesses find loopholes in their systems. They can then take preventive measures to correct them before they become a major risk and allow hackers to access chatbots. Moreover, doing regular security audits can also save businesses from heavy legal fines.

Encrypt all Organizational Data

Encrypting all sensitive data means transforming it into unreadable code. Only the people with decryption keys can access and read that data. So, even if the customer data falls into the wrong hands, it will be useless because of encryption.

These tips show that despite having some obvious vulnerabilities, chatbots can be used in a secure way. So, businesses need to be extra careful while using them, and they can win at customer support while maintaining data integrity.