
“Select all images with chimneys.” How many times were you inconveniently interrupted and asked to look through a group of photos to prove that you’re human? Although such CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) tasks have been used for two decades to boost online security against bots, they’re annoying and burdensome to users. So, when a recent study presented at the 32nd USENIX Security Symposium suggested that CAPTCHAs are no longer effective, it garnered widespread attention.
“I am happy that the results have fueled mainstream technology discussions,” says Andrew Searles, a Ph.D. student in UC Irvine Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) who led the study. “It has been exciting to watch the propagation of news outlets covering my work!”
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