Those squiggly hieroglyphic puzzles you need to solve to access certain websites or services can be a major nuisance. Thankfully, Google is rolling out a newer CAPTCHA system that should be easier for humans to use - and harder for bots to circumvent. I’m not as smart as a bot. I know this because stories are floating around the blogosphere today about how CAPTCHAs, those annoying word puzzles you have to solve before you’re allowed to do stuff on many websites, are easy to crack. Maybe so. But I can’t crack them. (CAPTCHA, by the way, stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. It was developed at Carnegie Mellon University and acquired by Google in 2009. “Turing test” refers to the standard set in 1950 by British mathematician Alan Turing in 1950: a machine can be deemed intelligent only if its performance is indistinguishable from a person’s.) Countless times I’ve been on the verge of buying a baseball ticket or posting a comment, only to be locked out because I can’t read the strange CAPTCHA hieroglyphics. Thankfully, Google, the keeper of the virtual key that is CAPTCHA, has decided to simplify the system so ordinary humans can crack the code and get to the ball game on time. In a post on Google’s security blog, CAPTCHA product manager Vinay Shet says his team has figured out a way to make the puzzles significantly easier for people to solve, while still filtering out bots. Instead of puzzles made of letters that look like the one below, the new CAPTCHAs will contain a series of numbers that are much easier to read, like the second image below. “Bots, on the other hand, will see CAPTCHAs that are considerably more difficult and designed to stop them from getting through,” writes Shet. The new-style CAPTCHAs are already starting to appear, and you’ll see more in the future as Google continues to roll them out. Sounds good, right? But there’s one the part I don’t understand. Shet says that when the software determines the entity attempting to engage with the protected page is a machine, CAPTCHA serves up a difficult puzzle. If it determines that the entity knocking on the door is a human, it serves a simpler puzzle. That raises an obvious question: If the software already knows a machine is trying to gain access, why bother with a puzzle? I reached out to Google for some insight, and if I hear back, I’ll update this post. Related content feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers interview Stepping up to the challenge of a global conglomerate CIO role Dr. Amrut Urkude became CIO of Reliance Polyester after his company was acquired by Reliance Industries. He discusses challenges IT leaders face while transitioning from a small company to a large multinational enterprise, and how to overcome them. By Yashvendra Singh May 26, 2023 7 mins Digital Transformation Careers brandpost With the new financial year looming, now is a good time to review your Microsoft 365 licenses By Veronica Lew May 25, 2023 5 mins Lenovo news Alteryx works in generative AI for speedy analytics results OpenAI integration and AI wizardry for report generation are aimed at making Alteryx’s analytics products more accessible. By Jon Gold May 25, 2023 3 mins Analytics Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe