5 things you need to know about chatbot security for internal company use

The digital helpers can currently be found on many websites. The target group for many chatbot applications are end customers, for example, to reserve or buy event tickets, such as movie and theater tickets.

In corporate environment, digital colleagues are rarely used. Employees also want a relief in their daily activities and want to use an assistant for their personal tasks. However, those who think that chatbots can be easily used within the company, should first think about the following questions.

Does a chatbot need security at all?

Yes. A distinction is made here between public chatbots for end customers and company-internal chatbots with access to (sensitive) company data. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a comprehensive data protection and a security concept for in-house chatbots.

The instant messaging service also plays an important role. Read more here:
Public or In-house Instant Messenger? What is better?

How can I ensure that only certain users are allowed to use a chatbot?

The chatbot needs to know with whom a conversation is to be started or not (authentication). The access to protected data must be denied for unknown users until the administrator grants appropriate rights to the user (authorization).

The Business Bot platform supports such security features and has more advanced security features when querying information in group chats.

How can a chatbot use the company internal IT infrastructures?

Most chatbot systems on the market focus on the conversation with end users, e.g., searching for a flight connection. Such a query of a public available service does not require identification and authentication of the user.

However, as soon as an in-house communication takes place, systems for human resources, controlling, sales, service and purchasing are secured, so that no access can be made by unauthorized personnel. These systems assume that a user authenticates with username and password.

Most chatbot systems on the market do not have a user authentication method, so the high-security requirements are unfulfilled. Our Business Bot platform already offers this feature in a security framework for all chatbots running on the Business Bot platform.

If an employee leaves the company, how can I make sure that my chatbots do not longer interact?

Should an employee leave the company, it is important to block all access to company-internal systems. Typically, the user account is disabled (e.g., in Active Directory). Unfortunately, it is often the case that not all software systems are connected to a company-wide directory service, so that it is often necessary to deactivate the user account in different systems.

The Business Bot platform can be connected to a directory service (e.g., LDAP) to reduce administrative work. Disabling the user in the directory service is enough to block the conversation between the user and the chatbots.

Would you like to know more about the topic and how the Business Bot platform supports you? Contact us.

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