I am sure you must have encountered little boxes accompanied by numbers, letters, or even images while surfing most of the websites. Well, these little boxes of the puzzle are known as the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans apart aka CAPTCHA which is implemented on a website to block malware, bots, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from interacting with the web page. Moreover, according to human-id.org, “Around 97.7% of the top 1 million websites use Google’s reCAPTCHA service to protect their websites from harmful attacks.” However, this security layer can sometimes be pain in the ass, because; (a) It takes time to solve the test, and (b) It totally ruins the user experience. Thus, it becomes essential to search for some workaround for this problem. So, can CAPTCHA be bypassed?
Well, let’s find out!
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Can CAPTCHA be bypassed?
Absolutely, a CAPTCHA test can be easily bypassed by initiating a simple Google search and finding CAPTCHA services or bots that could help in solving those irritating and complex CAPTCHA puzzles.
So, if you want to get your hands on some of the mind-blowing solutions to bypass the CAPTCHA test, then skip to the next part.
How to bypass CAPTCHA?
If you are fed up with this annoying and rigid process of CAPTCHA test, then you can use these solutions mentioned below to bypass CAPTCHA.
Use a browser extension:
If you are using browsers like Chrome and Firefox, then you can easily bypass the CAPTCHA challenge by installing a browser extension like Buster, AntiCAPTCHA, and ReCAPTCHA solver.
For instance, Buster allows users to solve the reCAPTCHA challenge by downloading reCAPTCHA audio challenges in a file format and then using Google’s very own Speech Recognition AI Service to solve it.
Use CAPTCHA solving services:
This is another great option to bypass the CAPTCHA challenge when visiting CAPTCHA-equipped sites. In this type of service, humans are hired to solve the CAPTCHA challenge, where they try to solve the CAPTCHA challenge in bulk and send them to the client. Generally, it takes up to a maximum of 10 seconds to solve a CAPTCHA challenge for human labor.
Anti-Captcha and 2Captcha are two great examples of CAPTCHA solving services.
Use AI-based technology:
AI technology like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can help a user to solve CAPTCHA challenges very easily. It recognizes the text inside the image such as scanned photos and documents and then converts it into machine-readable text data.
However, for the complex CAPTCHA challenges, you can build a Convolutional Neural Network or Recurrent Neural Network.
Sign in to your Google account:
This is no rocket science that the reCAPTCHA service is a Google product, so what other option can be more convenient than signing into your Google account and bypassing these irritating CAPTCHAs. I know it seems skeptical when it comes to Google as it is known to collect your browsing data and steal the entire privacy of a user, but you always have the option to turn off sync and send a “do not track” request to certain sites. Moreover, you can delete your search history by navigating to the “My Google Activity Section.”
Opt for Audio Challenge:
Solving the audio challenge is much easier than the image challenge, as it uses simple English words compared to the visual challenge. Moreover, you can download these audio files and play them in a new tab to get accurate information.
Use a VPN:
Lastly, you can try using a premium VPN service that will help you bypass those hard and annoying CAPTCHA challenges by disguising your traffic and location. But remember, Google can blacklist IP locations that are frequently used by VPN providers, so make sure you change the location as soon as you encounter any hurdle in bypassing a CAPTCHA challenge.
So, these were some mind-blowing solutions that will help you bypass CAPTCHA test in just a few seconds. However, many hackers out there in the field keep on searching for new ways to bypass this security layer and exploit the website to vulnerabilities.
Thus, it becomes essential to stop them for good.
But how? How to stop cybercriminals from bypassing CAPTCHA?
Continue to find out!
How to stop cybercriminals from bypassing CAPTCHA?
So, if you are a user, then the above-mentioned solutions would help you bypass the CAPTCHA challenge easily. But what if you are running a business and are worried about hackers bypassing these little angels?
Well, you can use these precautionary methods and stop them easily.
Use Biometrics:
You can implement a Biometric verification process on your website to stop bots from bypassing the CAPTCHA challenge. For instance, you could ask your user to verify whether he/she is a human or not by asking them to give out their fingerprint using their phone’s fingerprint scanner. Moreover, you can also try implementing other forms of biometric verification such as typing biometrics, facial recognition, and speech recognition.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication:
Another great option to block these predators from entering your website is by using the Multi-Factor Authentication process, where a user will need to enter a code sent through text message before accessing the website.
Use Ad Fraud solution:
Lastly, if you are running a business and want to keep those bots away from your website, then you can use Ad Fraud solutions, that will protect your website from Malware and Human fraud.
For instance, you can use Anura which detects fraud with precision via a robust fine-tuned solution.
How many types of CAPTCHA test are there?
There are different types of CAPTCHA tests like;
Image CAPTCHA:
In this type of Captcha test, a user has to identify a series of objects that are mentioned in the hint.
Audio CAPTCHA:
In this type of CAPTCHA test, a user can listen to the word or letters and then solve the CAPTCHA accordingly. It is more convenient than Text-Image CAPTCHA, as it can be downloaded in the file format and played in a new tab.
Math CAPTCHA:
This type of CAPTCHA is basically a math problem where users are given some random math problem, which they need to solve before accessing the webpage.
Text-Image CAPTCHA:
It is the most commonly used CAPTCHA test where users are given random letters and numbers, which they need to rewrite before entering the website.
Invisible CAPTCHA:
This is a new type of CAPTCHA test, where a user need-not rewrite, listen or solve any kind of CAPTCHA to enter the website. In fact, it runs in the background and checks if it is a bot or a human. For example, reCAPTCHA v3, helps in detecting bots while delivering a better user experience.
Disadvantages of using a CAPTCHA:
There is no doubt that CAPTCHA helps a user to run a business website safely. But everything is not perfect, and the same is the case with CAPTCHA.
So, to give you an insight into the disadvantages of using a CAPTCHA, I have listed them below.
It hurts user experience:
Imagine you are using a booking website to book a bus ticket on an urgent basis. You picked up your favorite window seat, proceeded to pay for it, and then a CAPTCHA appears. Wouldn’t it be irritating and ruin your user experience? And what if the bus seats go unavailable till you solve the CAPTCHA? It would be an annoying experience, and probably you will not visit that site again.
It wastes time:
Yes, CAPTCHAs do waste the time of users. Plus, there are high chances that the CAPTCHA test will fail even if the answer is correct. Not to mention, it can waste a user’s precious time like the bus ticket example, which can again result in a disaster.
Killing Conversion Rate:
For sure CAPTCHA will protect your site from harmful cyberattacks, but a bad user experience will kill your business conversion rate. According to Inc.com, CAPTCHA can lower your conversion rate up to 40%.
Moreover, in a bad case scenario, customers will stop visiting such websites, as well as place some negative reviews which can easily prevent successful sales in the future.
Final Remarks on “Can CAPTCHA be bypassed?”
So, after this long discussion, it is very much clear that CAPTCHA can be bypassed easily with the help of automated bots, AI services, browser extensions, and CAPTCHA solver services.
Therefore, if you are stuck in the endless loop of CAPTCHA quizzes or want to save your precious time, then you can consider using the solutions mentioned in this article.
