Conversational Artificial Intelligence

7Chatbots: Meaning, History, Vulnerabilities, and Possible Defense

Divya Nair

School of Education and Research, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Hadapsar, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Intelligent agents and interactive technology have influenced every aspect of our day-to-day activities. Chatbots are one such program based on artificial intelligence that has added value to the fields of marketing, entertainment, education, and other influential industries. Personal assistants like Alexa are used by the masses for a variety of tasks that range from the creation of a simple to-do list, up to booking a hotel and more complicated and personalized tasks. However, these human-like ability systems can be a free pass for cybercriminals for executing a variety of attacks by exploiting the vulnerabilities of the chatbots. The malicious chatbots have the ability to steal vital information from the customer without his or her awareness. This chapter focuses on presenting the possible chatbot vulnerabilities along with its possible defenses. The chapter outlines the meaning and history of chatbots initially followed by a discussion on the variety of vulnerabilities that can be accessed by the hackers and further exploited in the form of a disastrous attack. DDOS, access control, phishing, etc. are discussed with examples. Towards the end, an attempt is made to list out possible practical solutions of the chatbot vulnerabilities.

Keywords: Interactive technology, chatbots, personal ...