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Google Preparing 'Invisible ReCAPTCHA' System For No User Interaction (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the invisible-man dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: Google engineers are working on an improved version of the reCAPTCHA system that uses a computer algorithm to distinguish between automated bots and real humans, and requires no user interaction at all. Called "Invisible reCAPTCHA," and spotted by Windows IT Pro, the service is still under development, but the service is open for sign-ups, and any webmaster can help Google test its upcoming technology. Invisible reCAPTCHA comes two years after Google has revolutionized CAPTCHA technologies by releasing the No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA service that requires users to click on one checkbox instead of solving complex visual puzzles made up of words and numbers. The service helped reduce the time needed to fill in forms, and maintained the same high-level of spam detection we've become accustomed from the reCAPTCHA service. The introduction of the new Invisible reCAPTCHA technology is unlikely to make the situation better for Tor users since CloudFlare will likely force them to solve the same puzzle if they come from IPs seen in the past performing suspicious actions. Nevertheless, CloudFlare started working on an alternative.

1 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ya, but how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    It does both, along with other heuristics. If it detects a normal delay in reaching the checkbox and normal mouse movements it will usually let you proceed. If it's suspicious, because the box was checked too quickly, or the mouse movements were unnatural (or the pointer jumped without following a patch), or the traffic follows a common pattern, it will display a secondary test. That test will be text recognition, or pattern recognition that's easy for a human but tough for a computer (choose all squares that contain X).

    It's very effective against automated solvers, but pages can still be passed through to a CAPTCHA solving service which hires people in India and such to constantly solve them very cheaply. I just looked up a quote and it's only $1.39 per 1000 solutions.