Security News > 2021 > February > Meet the Vaccine Appointment Bots, and Their Foes
Bots - basically autonomous programs on the web - have emerged amid widespread frustration with the online world of vaccine appointments.
The most notable bots scan vaccine provider websites to detect changes, which could mean a clinic is adding new appointments.
A second type that's more worrisome to health officials are "Scalper" bots that could automatically book appointments, potentially to offer them up for sale.
The creator of the bot, software engineer Kenneth Hsu, said his original motivation was to help get an appointment for his own parents-in-law.
The website for a mass vaccination site in Atlantic City, New Jersey says its online queue system - which keeps people waiting on the site as slots are allotted - is designed to prevent it from crashing and to stop bots from snapping up appointments "From real people." But is that actually happening?
Walgreens said it is using cybersecurity techniques to detect and prevent bots so that "Only authorized and eligible patients will have access to schedule a vaccine appointment." CVS Health said it's encountered various types of automated activities and has designed its appointment-making system to validate legitimate users.