We’re all familiar with captcha, the anti-spam boxes where you fill in a bunch of letters; i hate them because my eyesight’s getting bad, so this news cheered me up no end.
Net security purr-fected: Kittens are the unlikely new weapon against online fraud
By Rebecca Armstrong
Published: 13 June 2007There’s a new way to combat internet fraud, prevent spam and keep online shopping secure. But your first impressions may be that it’s not exactly high tech. It takes the form of a simple question: from a gallery of fluffy-animal snaps, can you tell which are cats and which are dogs?
Your answer is enough to find out whether you are human or an automated spam program, designed to send unwanted email. The dog/cat question is the latest example of a security device called a Captcha, a simple puzzle that usually takes the form of a string of distorted letters and numbers.
Though it might depend on what kind of cat pic they use.
Cat or dog?
Edmund Schluessel
June 13, 2007 at 7:59 amNot cat. Not dog. EVIL.
Palau
June 13, 2007 at 12:28 pmThose teeth are gold too.
Elayne Riggs
June 13, 2007 at 12:53 pmEh. Dogs tend not to have whiskers, that’s how I usually tell…
Palau
June 14, 2007 at 3:13 amMy Dad’s west highland white terrier had bigger whiskers than Bagpuss. Just another adata point.