diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index eb684bc..31f4a1e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 response/error.txt
+response/exit.txt
+triggers/greet/greetings.txt
+triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg
 log.txt
 .*
 bot.cfg
diff --git a/bot.sh b/bot.sh
index 0051538..c237b4c 100755
--- a/bot.sh
+++ b/bot.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,47 @@ if [[ ! -f "bot.cfg" ]]; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# Check and initialize customizable configuration files
+check_config_files() {
+    local configFiles=(
+        "response/error.txt:response/error.txt.example"
+        "response/exit.txt:response/exit.txt.example"
+        "triggers/greet/greetings.txt:triggers/greet/greetings.txt.example"
+        "triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg:triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg.example"
+    )
+
+    for entry in "${configFiles[@]}"; do
+        local target="${entry%:*}"
+        local example="${entry#*:}"
+
+        if [[ ! -f "$target" ]]; then
+            if [[ -f "$example" ]]; then
+                cp "$example" "$target"
+                echo "Created $target from $example"
+            else
+                # Hardcoded fallback for critical files if example is missing
+                case "$target" in
+                    "response/error.txt")
+                        mkdir -p "$(dirname "$target")"
+                        printf "I don't understand\nI'm not sure how to help you with that.\n" > "$target"
+                        echo "Warning: $example not found. Created $target with default content."
+                        ;;
+                    "response/exit.txt")
+                        mkdir -p "$(dirname "$target")"
+                        printf "Ta ta for now.\nbye.\n" > "$target"
+                        echo "Warning: $example not found. Created $target with default content."
+                        ;;
+                    *)
+                        echo "Warning: Missing $example and no hardcoded fallback available."
+                        ;;
+                esac
+            fi
+        fi
+    done
+}
+
+check_config_files
+
 # Load required files.
 for i in "bot.cfg" "functions.sh" ; do
     if [[ -f "$i" ]]; then
@@ -231,6 +272,13 @@ while true; do
             from="${result#*#}"
             from="${from%% *}"
             from="#${from:-${channels[0]}}"
+
+            # Validate channel name format (IRC RFC 2812: must start with #, contain only valid chars)
+            if [[ ! "$from" =~ ^#[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$ ]]; then
+                # Invalid channel, use default
+                from="#${channels[0]}"
+            fi
+
             # Trigger stuff happens here.
             # Call link trigger if msg contains a link:
             if [[ "$result" =~ .*http://|https://|www\..* ]]; then
diff --git a/modules/convert/convert.sh b/modules/convert/convert.sh
index 3221bae..a8bf36c 100755
--- a/modules/convert/convert.sh
+++ b/modules/convert/convert.sh
@@ -14,4 +14,11 @@ if ! check_dependencies "${dependencies[@]}"; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-msg "$chan" "$(units -v ${*#* } | head -n1 | tr -d '[:space:]')"
+# Validate input
+if [[ -z "$*" ]]; then
+    msg "$chan" "Please provide a unit conversion (e.g., '10 meters to feet')."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Quote variables to prevent command injection
+msg "$chan" "$(units -v "${*#* }" | head -n1 | tr -d '[:space:]')"
diff --git a/modules/fortune/fortune.sh b/modules/fortune/fortune.sh
index 754137a..67c8afb 100755
--- a/modules/fortune/fortune.sh
+++ b/modules/fortune/fortune.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 dependencies=("fortune")
 
 target="${3#fortune}"
+# Trim leading/trailing whitespace
+target="${target#"${target%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+target="${target%"${target##*[![:space:]]}"}"
 
 # Check dependencies before running
 if ! check_dependencies "${dependencies[@]}"; then
@@ -12,6 +15,7 @@ if ! check_dependencies "${dependencies[@]}"; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-fortuneText="$(fortune -a -e -s -n 512 $target || echo "No fortunes found.")"
+# Quote target to prevent command injection
+fortuneText="$(fortune -a -e -s -n 512 "$target" || echo "No fortunes found.")"
 fortuneText="$(echo "$fortuneText" | tr '[:space:]' ' ' | sed -e 's/"/\"/g')"
 msg "$2" "$fortuneText"
diff --git a/modules/nick/nick.sh b/modules/nick/nick.sh
index 59f9a3d..e3f3aa0 100755
--- a/modules/nick/nick.sh
+++ b/modules/nick/nick.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,35 @@
 user=$1
 shift
 shift
-if [[ "$user" =~ $allowList ]]; then
-    ./modules/do/do.sh "$1" "#$channel" "does a magical gesture and turns into ${1}!"
-    nick $1
-    sed -i bot.cfg -e "s/nick=.*/nick=\"$1\"/"
+
+newNick="$1"
+
+# Validate that user is authorized
+if [[ ! "$user" =~ $allowList ]]; then
+    exit 0
 fi
+
+# Validate IRC nickname format (RFC 2812)
+# Nicknames can contain: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ - [ ] { } \ | ^
+if [[ -z "$newNick" ]]; then
+    msg "#$channel" "$user: Please provide a nickname."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+if ! [[ "$newNick" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9_\[\]\{\}\\|\^-]+$ ]]; then
+    msg "#$channel" "$user: Invalid nickname format. Only alphanumeric and _-[]{}\\|^ allowed."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+if [[ ${#newNick} -gt 30 ]]; then
+    msg "#$channel" "$user: Nickname too long (max 30 characters)."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Change the nick
+./modules/do/do.sh "$newNick" "#$channel" "does a magical gesture and turns into ${newNick}!"
+nick "$newNick"
+
+# Safely update config file - escape forward slashes for sed
+escapedNick="${newNick//\//\\/}"
+sed -i "s/^nick=.*/nick=\"${escapedNick}\"/" bot.cfg
diff --git a/modules/sing/sing.sh b/modules/sing/sing.sh
index c5267cf..a4c6984 100755
--- a/modules/sing/sing.sh
+++ b/modules/sing/sing.sh
@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@ if ! check_dependencies "${dependencies[@]}"; then
     msg "$chan" "$1: This module requires: ${dependencies[*]}"
     exit 1
 fi
-#get the lyric text into a variable
-lyricText="$(clyrics $@ | tr '[:space:]' ' ' | tr -s ' ' | fold -s -w 384)"
+# Get the lyric text into a variable (quote $@ to prevent command injection)
+lyricText="$(clyrics "$@" | tr '[:space:]' ' ' | tr -s ' ' | fold -s -w 384)"
 i=$(echo "$lyricText" | wc -l)
-i=$(($RANDOM % $i + 1))
+i=$((RANDOM % i + 1))
 lyricText="$(echo "$lyricText" | tail +$i | head -1 | rev | cut -d '.' -f2- | rev)"
 #Display the lyric text
 if [ ${#lyricText} -gt 15 ] ; then
 msg "$chan" "${lyricText}"
 exit 0
 fi
-msg "$chan" "no lyrics found for $@."
+msg "$chan" "no lyrics found for $*."
 exit 0
diff --git a/response/error.txt b/response/error.txt.example
similarity index 100%
rename from response/error.txt
rename to response/error.txt.example
diff --git a/response/exit.txt b/response/exit.txt.example
similarity index 100%
rename from response/exit.txt
rename to response/exit.txt.example
diff --git a/triggers/greet/greet.sh b/triggers/greet/greet.sh
index 2e511ce..e9b00b3 100755
--- a/triggers/greet/greet.sh
+++ b/triggers/greet/greet.sh
@@ -1,16 +1,26 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 [ -f functions.sh ] && source functions.sh
+
+greetingsFile="triggers/greet/greetings.txt"
+
 # All names to match are completely lowercase.
 case "${1,,}" in
 storm_dragon)
 msg "$2" "my lord, $1: how may I serve you?"
 ;;
 *)
-greeting=(
-  Greetings
-  "Howdy, welcome to $2!"
-  "Wazzup Moe Fugger!"
-  "Welcome to $2!"
-)
-msg "$2" "$1: ${greeting[$(($RANDOM % ${#greeting[@]}))]}"
+# Read greetings from file into array
+if [[ -f "$greetingsFile" ]]; then
+    mapfile -t greeting < "$greetingsFile"
+else
+    # Fallback if file doesn't exist
+    greeting=("Greetings" "Welcome!")
+fi
+
+# Replace {channel} placeholder with actual channel name
+selectedGreeting="${greeting[$((RANDOM % ${#greeting[@]}))]}"
+selectedGreeting="${selectedGreeting//\{channel\}/$2}"
+
+msg "$2" "$1: $selectedGreeting"
+;;
 esac
diff --git a/triggers/greet/greetings.txt.example b/triggers/greet/greetings.txt.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd96e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/triggers/greet/greetings.txt.example
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Greetings
+Howdy, welcome to {channel}!
+Wazzup Moe Fugger!
+Welcome to {channel}!
diff --git a/triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg.example b/triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a578d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg.example
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Keywords Configuration
+# Format: keyword|action|percentage (percentage is optional, defaults to 100%)
+# Available variables: $chan (channel), $who (user nickname)
+# Use {random:option1|option2|option3} for random selection in messages
+#
+# Examples:
+# word|msg "$chan" "Hello there!"|50%
+# test|act "$chan" "does something cool"
+
+linux|msg "$chan" "Linux is {random:awesome|God|great|lovely|fantastic|amazing|wonderful}!"|25%
+windows|msg "$chan" "{random:Failure is not an option, it comes bundled with Windows!|Apple got all pissed off because I farted in their store. It's not my falt they don't have Windows...|Windows is dumb!|Did you know that Micro Soft is Linda's pet name for Bill Gates?|A computer without Windows is like a chocolate cake without the mustard.|Windows is stupid|In a world without walls and fences - who needs windows and gates?|Windows, plug and pray.|Windows - Just another pain in the glass.|Windows, it's not pretty, it's not ugly, but it's pretty ugly.}!"|25%
+emacs|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use vim!"|50%
+jaws|msg "$chan" "${who}: watch out for sharks!"
+emacspeak|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use vim!"
+nano|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use vim!"
+pidgin|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use irssi!"
+weechat|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use irssi!"
+thunderbird|msg "$chan" "$who, Real dogs use mutt, real men of genius use cat on a mailbox file!"
+gedit|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use vim!"
+pluma|msg "$chan" "$who, Real men of genius use vim!"
+dragonforce|msg "$chan" "$who: I love DragonForce!!!"
+vim|msg "$chan" "{random:Praise vim! HA|In times of trouble, just ask yourself, 'What would Bram Moolenaar do?'.|Vim is like a Ferrari, if you're a beginner, it handles like a bitch, but once you get the hang of it, it's small, powerful and FAST!|VIM is like a new model Ferrari, and sounds like one too - 'VIIIIIIMMM!'|Only through vim can you be saved! HA}"
+
+# Multi-word triggers (match anywhere in message, spaces removed)
+# Format: ~phrase|action|percentage
+~nowplaying:|act "$chan" "{random:cranks the volume up to 11|got soooo high at that show|boogies down to the sound of the band}!"
diff --git a/triggers/keywords/keywords.sh b/triggers/keywords/keywords.sh
index 1a91799..4d93fc5 100755
--- a/triggers/keywords/keywords.sh
+++ b/triggers/keywords/keywords.sh
@@ -4,67 +4,142 @@
 who="${1%!*}"
 who="${who//:}"
 shift
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034  # Used in action strings via execute_action
 chan="$1"
 shift
 
-# each word is stored in an associative array, with the actions to be taken as the array's contents.
-# the variable $chan contains the channel that caused the trigger.
-# the variable $who contains the nick that caused the trigger.
-# Optional: Add a percentage (e.g., "50%") as the last element to respond only that percent of the time.
-declare -A keywords
-keywords[linux]="msg \"$chan\" \"Linux is $(shuf -n1 -e awesome God great lovely fantastic amazing wonderful)!\" 25%"
-keywords[windows]="msg \"$chan\" \"$(shuf -n1 -e\
-    "Failure is not an option, it comes bundled with Windows!"\
-    "Apple got all pissed off because I farted in their store. It's not my falt they don't have Windows..."\
-    "Windows is dumb!"\
-    "Did you know that Micro Soft is Linda's pet name for Bill Gates?"\
-    "A computer without Windows is like a chocolate cake without the mustard."\
-    "Windows is stupid"\
-    "In a world without walls and fences - who needs windows and gates?"\
-    "Windows, plug and pray."\
-    "Windows - Just another pain in the glass."\
-    "Windows, it's not pretty, it's not ugly, but it's pretty ugly.")!\" 25%"
-keywords[emacs]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use vim!\" 50%"
-keywords[jaws]="msg \"$chan\" \"${who}: watch out for sharks!\""
-keywords[emacspeak]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use vim!\""
-keywords[nano]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use vim!\""
-keywords[pidgin]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use irssi!\""
-keywords[weechat]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use irssi!\""
-keywords[thunderbird]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real dogs use mutt, real men of genius use cat on a mailbox file!\""
-keywords[gedit]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use vim!\""
-keywords[pluma]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who, Real men of genius use vim!\""
-keywords[dragonforce]="msg \"$chan\" \"$who: I love DragonForce!!!\""
-keywords[vim]="msg \"$chan\" \"$(shuf -n1 -e \
-    "Praise vim! HA"\
-    "In times of trouble, just ask yourself, 'What would Bram Moolenaar do?'."\
-   "Vim is like a Ferrari, if you're a beginner, it handles like a bitch, but once you get the hang of it, it's small, powerful and FAST!"\
-    "VIM is like a new model Ferrari, and sounds like one too - 'VIIIIIIMMM!'"\
-    "Only through vim can you be saved! HA")\""
+keywordsFile="triggers/keywords/keywords.cfg"
 
+# Function to process random selection syntax: {random:opt1|opt2|opt3}
+process_random() {
+    local text="$1"
+    while [[ "$text" =~ \{random:([^}]+)\} ]]; do
+        local options="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+        IFS='|' read -ra optArray <<< "$options"
+        local selected="${optArray[$((RANDOM % ${#optArray[@]}))]}"
+        text="${text/\{random:$options\}/$selected}"
+    done
+    echo "$text"
+}
+
+# Safe execution function - only allows predefined IRC functions
+execute_action() {
+    local action="$1"
+
+    # Parse the action to extract function name and arguments
+    if [[ "$action" =~ ^msg[[:space:]]+(\"[^\"]+\"|[^[:space:]]+)[[:space:]]+(.+)$ ]]; then
+        local target="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+        local message="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+        # Remove quotes from target and message if present
+        target="${target//\"/}"
+        # Safely expand only $chan and $who variables - NO EVAL
+        message="${message//\"\$chan\"/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\$chan/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\"\$who\"/$who}"
+        message="${message//\$who/$who}"
+        message="${message//\$\{chan\}/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\$\{who\}/$who}"
+        message="$(process_random "$message")"
+        msg "$target" "$message"
+    elif [[ "$action" =~ ^act[[:space:]]+(\"[^\"]+\"|[^[:space:]]+)[[:space:]]+(.+)$ ]]; then
+        local target="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+        local message="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+        # Remove quotes from target and message if present
+        target="${target//\"/}"
+        # Safely expand only $chan and $who variables - NO EVAL
+        message="${message//\"\$chan\"/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\$chan/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\"\$who\"/$who}"
+        message="${message//\$who/$who}"
+        message="${message//\$\{chan\}/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\$\{who\}/$who}"
+        message="$(process_random "$message")"
+        act "$target" "$message"
+    elif [[ "$action" =~ ^reply[[:space:]]+(\"[^\"]+\"|[^[:space:]]+)[[:space:]]+(.+)$ ]]; then
+        local target="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+        local message="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+        # Remove quotes from target and message if present
+        target="${target//\"/}"
+        # Safely expand only $chan and $who variables - NO EVAL
+        message="${message//\"\$chan\"/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\$chan/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\"\$who\"/$who}"
+        message="${message//\$who/$who}"
+        message="${message//\$\{chan\}/$chan}"
+        message="${message//\$\{who\}/$who}"
+        message="$(process_random "$message")"
+        reply "$target" "$message"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Load keywords from config file into associative array
+declare -A keywords
+if [[ -f "$keywordsFile" ]]; then
+    while IFS='|' read -r keyword action percentage || [[ -n "$keyword" ]]; do
+        # Skip comments and empty lines
+        [[ "$keyword" =~ ^[[:space:]]*# ]] && continue
+        [[ -z "$keyword" ]] && continue
+
+        # Trim whitespace
+        keyword="${keyword#"${keyword%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+        keyword="${keyword%"${keyword##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+        action="${action#"${action%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+        action="${action%"${action##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+        percentage="${percentage#"${percentage%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+        percentage="${percentage%"${percentage##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+
+        # Store in array (key includes ~ prefix for multi-word triggers)
+        if [[ -n "$percentage" ]]; then
+            keywords["$keyword"]="$action $percentage"
+        else
+            keywords["$keyword"]="$action"
+        fi
+    done < "$keywordsFile"
+fi
+
+# Process single-word triggers
 wordList="$(echo "${@,,}" | tr '[:space:]' $'\n' | sort -u)"
 for w in ${wordList//[[:punct:]]/} ; do
-if [[ -n "${keywords[${w,,}]}" && "$lastWordMatch" != "${keywords[${w,,}]}" ]]; then
-keywordAction="${keywords[${w,,}]}"
-# Check if the last element is a percentage
-if [[ "$keywordAction" =~ (.*)\ ([0-9]+)%$ ]]; then
-command="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-percentage="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-# Generate random number between 1-100 and only respond if within percentage
-randomNum=$((RANDOM % 100 + 1))
-if [[ $randomNum -le $percentage ]]; then
-eval "$command"
-fi
-else
-# No percentage specified, always respond
-eval "$keywordAction"
-fi
-lastWordMatch="${keywords[${w,,}]}"
-fi
+    if [[ -n "${keywords[${w,,}]}" && "$lastWordMatch" != "${keywords[${w,,}]}" ]]; then
+        keywordAction="${keywords[${w,,}]}"
+        # Check if the last element is a percentage
+        if [[ "$keywordAction" =~ (.*)\ ([0-9]+)%$ ]]; then
+            command="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+            percentage="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+            # Generate random number between 1-100 and only respond if within percentage
+            randomNum=$((RANDOM % 100 + 1))
+            if [[ $randomNum -le $percentage ]]; then
+                execute_action "$command"
+            fi
+        else
+            # No percentage specified, always respond
+            execute_action "$keywordAction"
+        fi
+        lastWordMatch="${keywords[${w,,}]}"
+    fi
 done
 
-# Example of dealing with multi word triggers.
-# Reset wordList without sorting it and with spaces removed.
+# Process multi-word triggers (those starting with ~)
 wordList="$(echo "${@,,}" | tr -d '[:space:]')"
-if [[ "${wordList,,}" =~ .*nowplaying:.* ]]; then
-act "$chan" "$(shuf -n1 -e "cranks the volume up to 11" "got soooo high at that show" "boogies down to the sound of the band")!"
-fi
+for trigger in "${!keywords[@]}"; do
+    if [[ "$trigger" =~ ^~ ]]; then
+        # Remove the ~ prefix for matching
+        triggerPattern="${trigger#\~}"
+        if [[ "${wordList,,}" =~ .*${triggerPattern}.* ]]; then
+            keywordAction="${keywords[$trigger]}"
+            # Check if the last element is a percentage
+            if [[ "$keywordAction" =~ (.*)\ ([0-9]+)%$ ]]; then
+                command="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+                percentage="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+                # Generate random number between 1-100 and only respond if within percentage
+                randomNum=$((RANDOM % 100 + 1))
+                if [[ $randomNum -le $percentage ]]; then
+                    execute_action "$command"
+                fi
+            else
+                # No percentage specified, always respond
+                execute_action "$keywordAction"
+            fi
+        fi
+    fi
+done
diff --git a/triggers/link/link.sh b/triggers/link/link.sh
index 8707b3a..270d3e2 100755
--- a/triggers/link/link.sh
+++ b/triggers/link/link.sh
@@ -12,10 +12,25 @@ fi
 for l in $3 ; do
 text="${l#:}"
 if [[ "${text}" =~ http://|https://|www\..* ]]; then
-pageTitle="$(curl -L -s --connect-timeout 5 "$text" | sed -n -e 'H;${x;s!.*<head[^>]*>\(.*\)</head>.*!\1!;T;s!.*<title>\(.*\)</title>.*!\1!p}' | w3m -dump -T text/html | tr '[:space:]' ' ')"
-pageTitle="$(echo "$pageTitle" | tr -cd '[:print:]')"
-if [[ ${#pageTitle} -gt 1 ]]; then
-msg "$2" "$pageTitle"
-fi
+    # Security: Only allow http:// and https:// protocols
+    if [[ ! "$text" =~ ^https?:// ]]; then
+        # Convert www. to http://www.
+        if [[ "$text" =~ ^www\. ]]; then
+            text="http://$text"
+        else
+            # Skip unknown protocols
+            continue
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    # Remove potentially dangerous shell metacharacters from URL
+    text="${text//[;&|]/}"
+
+    # Fetch page title with timeout and security limits
+    pageTitle="$(curl -L -s --connect-timeout 5 --max-time 10 "$text" | sed -n -e 'H;${x;s!.*<head[^>]*>\(.*\)</head>.*!\1!;T;s!.*<title>\(.*\)</title>.*!\1!p}' | w3m -dump -T text/html | tr '[:space:]' ' ')"
+    pageTitle="$(echo "$pageTitle" | tr -cd '[:print:]')"
+    if [[ ${#pageTitle} -gt 1 ]]; then
+        msg "$2" "$pageTitle"
+    fi
 fi
 done