Cyber Security - Gotta Captchem all.

This week’s topic is something relevant to Cyber Security.

If you are any normal denizen of the internet, then it is highly likely that you have run into the infamous CAPTCHA!

Short for “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. (Makes you glad that they decided to refer to it by abbreviation only.)

CAPTCHA is a security test that does more than just annoy you (shocking I know). Its “real” purpose is to protect websites from bots. These bots are programmed to either automatically register for accounts or influence some sort of online poll/contest. This can be real annoying towards the admins if a site’s community of say a 100 strong is suddenly populated with a couple thousand “xxNorrisVSLee1820x” every day.

Or we can use this blog as an example. Were it not for captcha, then there is literally NOTHING (aside from a global EMP wiping out all electronics) stopping bots from spamming this comment section with something asinine such as “chunky bacon”.

So how does captcha stop these little spamalot gremlins? First they make the users (in this case the bots) type something. The catch is that what they have to type are images of complex arrangements and shapes, meaning that since bots can only recognize what is typed on the screen or some standard font, the bots cannot decipher complex images or shapes. However, one advantage humans have over bots is our ability of pattern recognition and ability to read abstract symbols. A pretty cheeky way to one up skynet!  

So next time you’re inputting text into that pesky captcha, know that this is a necessary evil to…well to be honest, why should we care what happens to the site owners? It’s not our problem. THE INTERNET ISN’T SO CHARITABLE!

CAPTCHA: Telling Humans and Computers Apart Automatically. (n.d.).The Official CAPTCHA Site. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.captcha.net/

How to use CAPTCHA. (n.d.). How to use captcha, understand, use and implement captcha, to protect your website againstspam and form spamming, and captcha explained. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.captcha.tv/