ST.

MARY’S TECHNICAL CAMPUS KOLKATA

SEMINER
On
CAPTCHA
 In Fulfillment for the subject
SEMINER
Of Sixth Semester

Prepared By:
Santanu Nandy
Saumik Dalui
Avijit Manna
Submitted To:
Department Of Computer Science & Engineering
 CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Definition
 Basically what a ‘Captcha’ do ?
 How does Captcha work?
 Types of Captchas
 Breaking Captchas
 Characteristics
 Applications
 Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION
 Computers and Humans are apart, a technique used
by a computer to tell if it is interacting with human or
some other computer.
 It is needed because activities such as online
commerce transactions, search engine submissions,
Web polls, Web registrations, free e-mail service
registration and other automated services are
subject to software programs, or bots, that mimic the
behavior of humans in order to skew the results of
the automated task or perform malicious activities,
such as gathering e-mail addresses for spamming.
 DEFINITION
 A CAPTCHA (an acronym for “Completely Automated Public
Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart") is a type of
challenge-response test used in computing to determine
whether or not the user is human.
A CAPTCHA is a program that can generate and grade tests
that:
 Most humans can pass, but
 Current computer programs can't pass
 BASICALLY WHAT A ‘CAPTCHA DO ?
 In order to validate the digital transaction, using the
CAPTCHA system the user is presented with a distorted
word typically placed on top of a distorted background.
The user must type the word into a field in order to
complete the process.
 Computers have a difficult time decoding the distorted
words while humans can easily decipher the text.
 Some CAPTCHAs now use pictures instead of words where
the user is presented with a series of pictures and asked
what the common element among all of the pictures is.
 By entering that common element, the user validates the
transaction and the computer knows it is dealing with a
human and not a bot.
 HOW A CAPTCHA DOES WORKS?
 A CAPTCHA image shows a random string which the user has to
type to submit a form.
 This is a simple problem for humans, but a very hard problem
for computers which have to use character recognition,
especially, because the displayed string is alienated in a way,
which makes it very hard for a computer to decode.
 TYPES OF CAPTCHA

1. Text based Captcha

 Gimpy, ex.-gimpy
• Pick a word or words from a small dictionary
• Distort them and add noise and background
 Gimpy-r, Google’s CAPTCHA
• Pick random letters
• Distort them, add noise and background
 Simard’s HIP
• Pick random letters and numbers
• Distort them and add arcs
 TYPES OF CAPTCHA
2. Graphic based
 Bongo
• Display two series of blocks
• User must find the characteristic that
sets the two series apart
• User is asked to determine which series
each of four single blocks belongs to.
• Difference? thick vs. thin lines

 PIX
• Create a large database of labeled images
• Pick a concrete object
• Pick four images of the object from the
images database
• Distort the images
• Ask the user to pick the object for a list of
words
 TYPES OF CAPTCHA
 Audio based
 Pick a word or a sequence of numbers at
random
 Render them into an audio clip using a TTS
software
 Distort the audio clip
 Ask the user to identify and type the word or
numbers
 BREAKING CAPTCHAS
 Most text based CAPTCHAs have been broken
by software
• OCR
• Segmentation
 Other CAPTCHAs were broken by streaming the
tests for unsuspecting users to solve.
 CHARACTERISTICS

 They are completely automated. This avoids the

necessity for human maintenance or intervention in
the test, with obvious benefits in cost and reliability.

 The algorithm used is made public, though it may be

encumbered by a patent. This is stipulated so as to
require that breaking a captcha requires the solution
of a hard problem in the field of artificial intelligence
(AI) rather than just the discovery of the (secret)
algorithm, which could be obtained through other
techniques.
 APPLICATIONS
 Online polls
 Search engine bots
 Worms and spams
 Search Engine Bots
 Prevent dictionary attacks
 CONCLUSION
 CAPTCHAS are any software that distinguishes human and
machine.

 Research in CAPTCHAS implies advancement in AI making

computers understand how human thinks.

 Internet companies are making billions of dollars every year,

their security and services quality matters and so does the
advancement in CAPTCHA technology.
 REFERENCE
• WWW.GOOGLE.COM
• WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM
THANK YOU!