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Could this be the next generation of CAPTCHAs being introduced by a social networking site? I definitely think so with similar techniques being used in the world of Computer Security 

Reddit is one of the hottest sources for what’s new and popular on the web. Reddit gives editorial control to people who use the site and not to those who run it. The users get to decide which stories are popular and vote them to the front page.

A CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Computers are unable to solve CAPTCHAs so anyone entering the correct solution is presumed to be human. The most common type of CAPTCHA including that used by Reddit requires a user to type the letters of a distorted image. Sometimes this CAPTCHA is enhanced with the addition of a sequence of numbers also distorted.

Technology now exists to read some types of CAPTCHAs. So the latest generation of CAPTCHAs add more distortions such as highlights, shadows or random line segments with a gradient background etc. Below is an example of a CAPTCHA you would see if you submit any stories or articles to Reddit

However, last night while surfing on the Internet Super highway, I found a really interesting article, which I wanted to submit to the social networking sites including Reddit. So, when I try to submit this story, image to my surprise where instead of seeing the regular CAPTCHA, I see a new form of CAPTCHA which Reddit is trying to introduce.

What strikes you immediately is that instead of asking you to type in a single word, Reddit might be on the verge of introducing a CAPTCHA asking you to type a sentence. This feature is common in the world of computer security where people are encouraged to have a passphase instead of using a single word as a password. The more characters you have in your password, the harder it is to brute force them.

Seems like it is still in beta as evident by the phrase they told me to submit “i wonder if these things even work“. My guess, Reddit would roll out this phrase CAPTCHA with more additions such as distortions or maybe a gradient background to thwart edge detection by automated CAPTCHA solvers.

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