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Why the CAPTCHA Approach Is Doomed

Posted by timothy on from the how-do-you-feel-about-are-you-a-human dept.

TechnoBabble Pro writes "The CAPTCHA idea sounds simple: prevent bots from massively abusing a website (e.g. to get many email or social network accounts, and send spam), by giving users a test which is easy for humans, but impossible for computers. Is there really such a thing as a well-balanced CAPTCHA, easy on human eyes, but tough on bots? TechnoBabble Pro has a piece on 3 CAPTCHA gotchas which show why any puzzle which isn't a nuisance to legitimate users, won't be much hindrance to abusers, either. It looks like we need a different approach to stop the bots."

13 of 522 comments (clear)

  1. question and answer seem to work well by get+quad · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...until AI gets smart enough to answer questions intuitively.

    --
    "To err is human, to mod Funny divine."
    1. Re:question and answer seem to work well by RichardJenkins · · Score: 4, Funny

      At that point spam will be the least of you worries, fleshbag.

    2. Re:question and answer seem to work well by sexconker · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't know.
      Humans fail the "What are your username and password?" question all the time.

  2. Just accept the truth ... by jbeaupre · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... you are a computer. Life, er, up-time will be easier.

    --
    The world is made by those who show up for the job.
  3. Re:So what next? by Hojima · · Score: 4, Funny

    So if the CAPTCHA is doomed, what is the next approach?

    Torture

    --
    Help fight spam
  4. Re:So what next? by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe a different type of system? Show a series of animals and ask which one is a pet. Show a series of letters and ask which one is the vowel. A series of types of food and ask which one would go best with Natalie Portman. Show an action shot and a series of similar actions, ask which one would occur in Soviet Russia.

    --
    "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
  5. Stopping bots is easy... by MrBippers · · Score: 5, Funny

    Solve the following math problem to continue:
    1/0 = ?

  6. Re:It's a Turing test by Chad+Birch · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is my favorite captcha, some are ridiculous: http://random.irb.hr/signup.php

    Refresh the page a bit, fun to see what you can get.

    --
    Sturgeon was an optimist.
  7. Re:So what next? by crazyvas · · Score: 5, Funny

    So if the CAPTCHA is doomed, what is the next approach?

    Torture

    You mean, TORTCHA?

  8. Re:So what next? by Arancaytar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Place Goatse on the front page. After everyone's eyes are bleeding, the only remaining visitors will then be robots. Behold, you have isolated the set of spambots from the set of humans.

    Inverting the set to get the humans instead of the bots is left as a trivial exercise to the reader.

  9. Re:So what next? by silent_artichoke · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pardon me, but I do believe that Natalie Portman can be both a pet AND a tasty treat.

  10. Re:So what next? by ch33zm0ng3r · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well you know what they say: "You can't have your Natalie Portman and eat her too..." ...or something like that.

  11. Re:So what next? by arth1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think you meant to say "isolated spambots and 4channers from the set of humans".

    You repeat yourself.