Security in the Guest AI Assistant

The guest AI assistant powers the entire chat experience in Online Order. This article explains how security is built and what protections are in place.

How the guest AI works

When a guest opens their ordering link, AI responses are fetched from Vendion's servers. The service:

1. Receives the guest's message
2. Builds context from menu, allergens, and any customer profile
3. Generates an AI response
4. Returns the response + any menu options

Architecture

The guest is not logged in – they should be able to order without an account. This means security is handled via rate limits and secure signed links on the server side, without requiring login from the guest.

Active security measures

Rate limiting

• Chat: 30 requests per minute per user
• Ordering: 60 requests per minute per user
• Order creation: 10 new orders per 10 min per user
• SMS code: 1 per 5 min per phone, 10 per day per phone, 3 per 10 min per user

Spam protection

In addition to rate limits, we use a fingerprint to detect distributed spam where someone rotates networks but has the same browser.

Secure signed link for order flow

When an order is created it gets a secure signed link required for all subsequent calls (add product, remove, mark as paid). This prevents someone from guessing other order IDs and manipulating orders.

Restaurant validation

The service always checks that the restaurant is valid before chat can be used.

Security improvements planned

Security improvements are planned – our support team can provide status. We continuously work on raising protection. Contact support@vendion.com if you want to know more about specific scenarios.

What you as a restaurateur should know

• The cost is low in practice – rate limits prevent normal abuse
• Report suspicious activity to support@vendion.com if you see unusual numbers of chat messages without resulting orders
• Data doesn't leak – the menu is already public via your ordering link, so the risk is low

What the guest is protected against

• Manipulation of others' orders – closed via secure signed link per order
• SMS code brute force – closed via phone- and rate-based limiting
• Overload of order creation – closed via the 10-order-per-10-min limit
• Customer profile scraping – closed via SMS verification required to read phone-linked data

Further questions

Security is ongoing work. If you as a customer have questions about specific scenarios or want a security review, contact support@vendion.com.