Google Buys reCAPTCHA, Creating a Potential Privacy Issue

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Rich Kulawiec <rsk () gsp org>
> Date: September 17, 2009 8:09:20 EDT
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Cc: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Google Buys reCAPTCHA, Creating a Potential  
> Privacy Issue

> On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 07:06:43PM -0400, Lauren Weinstein wrote:
> > > CMU's reCAPTCHA is a specific implementation
> > > of the more generalized CAPTCHA concept, which attempts to validate
> > > user input as coming from a human, not a (typically spam-related)
> > > robot.
>
> The entire "captcha" concept, never a good idea in the first place
> due to its unfair impact on the visually-impaired, is dead.  Spammers
> and other abusers now have the ability to defeat it at will by using
> a combination of automated and manual techniques -- and are already  
> doing
> so where it's worth their attention.
>
> Automated attacks on captchas have pushed the necessary obfuscation
> to a level that blurs the boundary between "one too hard for an
> automaton" and "one easy enough for a human being".  And while human
> beings aren't getting any better at this -- software is.
>
> Manual attacks on captchas are carried out by workers hired at very  
> low
> wages (often performance-based) to execute repetitive tasks, and by
> unsuspecting users who are tricked into participating by methods  
> similar
> to trojans.  "Never underestimate the decode rate of a room full of
> adept typists", to borrow from a famous aphorism regarding magnetic  
> tapes.
>
> While thus far these attacks have (mostly) been directed at high-value
> targets, it's reasonable to presume, given well-known past patterns
> of spammer/abuser behavior, that they will spread beyond those as
> methods are refined and resources more efficiently deployed.
>
> ---Rsk



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