What is a CAPTCHA and why use them in web apps?

They look like your printer had a bit too much to drink, and you’re not quite sure why you have to click on traffic lights to prove that you’re not a robot. Are they getting harder, or are you going blind? Is that an “l”, an “I”, or a “1”? If you’re on the web, it’s very likely that you’ve encountered a CAPTCHA before. 

THE ORIGIN OF CAPTCHA

In the year 2000, the CAPTCHA was created by Luis von Ahm and a team of engineers at Carnegie Mellon University. CAPTCHA is the acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.

Although you might not like them, Luis von Ahn and his team invented CAPTCHAs to try their best at guarding websites against armies of malicious “bots” by providing challenges that are tricky for computers to perform, but relatively easy for people to complete. 

These programs are widely utilised by web development agencies when setting up websites with extra security measures in place.

The invention was widely praised and wildly popular… until it was exploited by spam-sponsored CAPTCHA scammers that seemingly borrowed a page straight out of the Capitalism Playbook: outsource your workforce. Smart spammers were paying impoverished people to do CAPTCHAs.

So, as scammers and tech got smarter, the CAPTCHA had to become vastly more developed, too. Custom web development agencies like ours had to keep up with the pace.

CAPTCHAS, WHY USE THEM?

Web developers integrate CAPTCHAs into their clients’ websites. These websites use CAPTCHAs to generate and evaluate tests that people can pass, but computers can’t when submitting data. They are most commonly used in the posting of forms, but they have many more uses for practical web security, such as: 

• Creating free accounts: Web development companies like ours can build bespoke customer portals for our clients in which their customers can create unique accounts. If your customer portal is not designed by us, it could sadly suffer a very specific online attack - “bots”! These “bots” sign up for their free accounts at an alarming rate every day. By making use of CAPTCHAs, your business can prevent “bots” from registering for accounts by requiring users to prove that they’re real people first. 

• Spam and Worms: We’re not referring to the suspicious tinned meat, nor are we talking about the wriggly insects in your garden. If you have ever received an email about allegedly inheriting millions from a long-lost family member that you have never heard of before, you’ve received spam. Spam on the net is irrelevant and unsolicited messages sent over the internet, often to thousands of people at once for the purpose of advertising, spreading web worm malware, or phishing. Worms on the web are malware that could try to steal, hack, or corrupt your data, and even ask you for ransom to get it back! CAPTCHA tries to solve this problem by proving the email you received came from a real person behind the other computer. 

• CAPTCHAs can offer extra security for your passwords. It prevents scammers from using your password on your apps or web logins by adding an extra safeguard. This works by keeping computers from retyping computer passwords by themselves.

HOW CAPTCHA WORKS

By now you should have gathered that CAPTCHAs work by asking a user to perform tasks that people can do, but “bots” can’t do. If the verifiably real person completes the tasks, the service is provided with authentication that the user is in fact a human and not a “bot”. The user may then continue onto the site. 

Some CAPTCHAs typically involve image-based or reading-based tests. People are commonly clever enough to identify warped text characters correctly. But, sometimes CAPTCHA images could be tricky to interpret, in which case users may request to take a new CAPTCHA test. 

COMMON TYPES OF CAPTCHAS  

The CAPTCHAs you’ll encounter now are categorised into three different types: image recognition, text recognition, and speech recognition. Based on their nature, image and text type tests are visual CAPTCHAs, but for those who have a visual impairment, speech/audio-based CAPTCHAs may be used.

Nowadays, CAPTCHAs have evolved to incorporate elements for hybrid and interactive CAPTCHA tests. Additionally, animated and video CAPTCHAs are classified under a new “moving object” category. There is a CAPTCHA for everyone. 

• Visual CAPTCHAs: These types of CAPTCHAs are made to challenge the user’s ability to see and recognize what they saw. They’re usually not difficult, despite some hindered usability for users with bad sight. These work by counting on the weaker vision abilities of machines to filter real users from “bots”.

• Text-based CAPTCHAs: These are the most used types of CAPTCHAs. As we’ve explained, it relies on people knowing how to identify letters and numbers even if they’re distorted and wonky. Automatic character recognition falls surprisingly short in this department. 

• Image-based CAPTCHAs: These depend on machines being worse than people at identifying and grouping objects (with their unique types and features). For this type of test, people would have to understand more from an image than a computer can extract, and group them accordingly. This is exactly what you think it is: if the CAPTCHA asks you to click on all of the squares that contain a picture of cute dogs, you having the knowledge of what a man’s best friend looks like can easily complete this task. 

• Moving Object CAPTCHAs: These types of CAPTCHAs are like watching a quick clip and typing in what you saw. These are pretty secure, but they tend to be more pricey to implement than other methods. 

• Interactive CAPTCHAs: As the name suggests, you interact with the test to complete it. This can be done by having to drag and drop items with your mouse to solve the test. This bargains on the computer’s failure to imitate people’s behaviour, especially when it comes to motion-based acts. 

ELEMENTAL-MADE CAPTCHA 

In 2013, the superstar web developers at Elemental took on the challenge of creating a CAPTCHA of our own. Let’s face it - you don’t really want to click on that traffic light. We’ve made a CAPTCHA that improves site speed and user experience.

As a user, you don’t necessarily see the complex code that makes web platforms and apps possible. The common CAPTCHA you know is clunky and chunky! This type of program takes a lot of your computer browser’s resources to load on these websites and may disrupt your browsing experience.

The Elemental-designed CAPTCHA was made as a simple, custom, hidden-input CAPTCHA. This specific feature means that websites that are built by the Elemental team have skillfully developed code that puts extensive security measures in place to keep the site safe from “bots”.

The Elemental CAPTCHA is faster, more lightweight, takes up far less valuable resources with a quicker load time, and is easier to implement than the CAPTCHAs you’ve come to know. 

The Elemental team was flooded with positive feedback for their out-of-the-box CAPTCHA that promoted an unobstructed experience of their client’s websites. That’s right! Sites, platforms, and web apps made by Elemental have top-notch security without users having to complete traditional, tedious CAPTCHAs. 

FUN FACT

Did you know that it takes the average user about 10 seconds on average to complete a CAPTCHA test. Although some CAPTCHAs are more complex than others which can affect how long it takes to complete it, 10 seconds is the average amount of time it takes to complete a CAPTCHA.

BUT, if your web platform and app is developed by Elemental, your online clients won’t ever have to worry about wasting time on CAPTCHAs since ours doesn’t require you to complete them. It’s all in the coding! 

LET'S WRAP THIS UP

CAPTCHAs have come a long way to keep our websites safe. From Von Luis’s inception to the implementation of these protective programs that are still in use over two decades later, they are constantly improving to best help you from becoming a victim of bad guy “bots”.

There are various types of CAPTCHAs available and in use to verify that your website is being visited by real customers. They are not the highlight of visiting a website, but knowing what goes into and beyond the “I am not a robot” prompt helps users to understand why they are in place. 

The Elemental team has proudly been securing our clients’ websites with our very own custom-developed CAPTCHA that exceeds common CAPTCHAs and is much easier to integrate. Not only can we create an awesome, fully-customised, and tailored website for your business, we can ensure that it is protected with our unique CAPTCHA. You can get in touch with us today!

There are loads of risks associated with being on the web. These CAPTCHAs have a hand in ensuring that your passwords are protected, results from client forms are accurate, and the accounts on your websites are made by people as tangible as you are. So, the next time you complete a CAPTCHA test, know that you are also making the internet a safer space.