"Why do they make CAPTCHA images so frickin' hard to read?"

Asked by Iluthien 24 months ago

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The letters & numbers are all wavy and run together...it's hard to tell if it's capital or lowercase (some are case-sensitive), they put it on weird backgrounds so it's hard to read.... ARGH! Why do they do that?


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"Too much technology and knowledge in the hands of those with malicious intent have forced it."
 by jrayle on Jan 30 2008 (24 months ago)
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There has actually been a progression of changes as to how the CAPTCHA "test" looks. These changes have been necessary to try and stay a step ahead of those that seem intent on being able to crack the "test" using software and optical recognition. Because the software and optical recognition has become so advanced the changes necessary for the tests to be effective have made it equally difficult for a human to recognize the scramble of letters and numbers. I think this in itself is a sign of how technologically advanced we've become in the area of artifical intelligence. I think we will see an eventual demise to the CAPTCHA security method since it has reached a point where we can no longer humanly descipher these tests.
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"That's kind of the point -- separate man from machine."
 by knowware on Jan 30 2008 (24 months ago)
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I agree some of the CAPTCHA images have gotten a bit challenging to read, and it would helpful if they would note case sensitivity, but some degree of difficulty is necessary to really spoof image reading programs.  You might look for the option to have the characters read to you, although in my experience they've usually got so much background noise it's equally challenging to pick up the characters there as well.

 

You can  take a look at some of the alternatives to the standard character challenge at the following link:

 

http://www.captcha.net/cgi-bin/esp-pix

 

I'm not sure I like that solution either -- picking the common term from four pictures -- somewhat entertaining, but might be a pain if you're in a hurry.

 

I'm sure there'll be other solutions over time.
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"Technology & Foolishness"
 by Illandril on Jan 30 2008 (24 months ago)
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There's enough technology out there to make it possible for people to write programs that are capable of deciphering many hidden-text CAPTCHA images. Instead of searching for alternative anti-bot technology than hidden-text CAPTCHAs (which even if the basic ones weren't breakable by computer programs pose a usability issue), sites simply make their CAPTCHAs more and more complex.

If there is a way to contact people from the site, you can always do that if you find their CAPTCHAs too hard to read (or simply don't use that site if that isn't worth it).
Hopefully in time more sites will use alternative anti-bot technologies, such as the "Answer a question about a series of pictures" technique (show a picture of 9 things, ask "Which of these can fly?", let them in if they select the two birds and the helicopter [or whatever images happen to be of flying things]).
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"They need to secure the site from various bots and automated registration tools."
 by pfzlsk on Jan 29 2008 (24 months ago)
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By putting up a CAPTCHA image of the password, they stop spammers and other nogoodniks from getting accounts using automated tools that could read a normal image, say using OCR. Hackers won't waste time trying to enter the site manually. It's an important security measure that keeps the site open to legit users, and denying it to hacker's.
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"I agree!"
 by -Poppet- on Jan 29 2008 (24 months ago)
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They seem to OVERDO it, which really isn't necessary.  Sometimes I just have to guess at the numbers/letters, as I can't figure out what they are.  I will be on a real roll at Mechanical Turk, and have to enter that obnoxious captcha word in the box, and then have to answer or abandon some question!

I understand the reasoning behind the process, but it would be nice if there was a bit more consistency and legibility. But I suppose that makes it harder to crack!

I understand your frustration!  It's similar to trying to figure out all the numbers and letters in the stupid Coke Points thing!  Is that a zero or an eight? A six or a five? 
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Latest post on this question's discussion board:

jrayle, regarding your answer "Too much technology and knowledge in the hands of those with malicious intent have forced it.": I seem to remember them being more legible in the past. So I guess we should be angry with the people who came up with the software that reads images!
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