DID I “CAPTCHA” YOUR ATTENTION? 😉

You may ask, “WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE ANNOYING BOXES OF TWISTED, MESSED UP WORDS THAT SHOW UP WHEN WE CREATE AN ACCOUNT OR SIGN UP FOR SOMETHING…OR WANT TO POST A COMMENT????”

Below is an example of a Captcha form

Captcha

Well it’s called Capcha, and like our beloved, fifty million passwords to remember, it is a good thing….or better than the alternative! Of course, it never made any of us like it more when mom used to say “eat it, it’s good for you”, but she was right….I think. Just like cherry cough syrup, it leaves almost as bad a taste in our mouths… but captcha is “good for us”!….honest!

Why is it good and more importantly, what the heck is it?

Captcha protects internet stuff from Spam, cyber attacks, the creation of fake online accounts and more!

What??????

At this point many people just look at me funny, or make a comment that clearly indicates they don’t care!

OK, so here’s ONE example:

The “bad guys” create a fake email account and then they start using it to send fake messages to you to trick you into an assortment of things, or just to flood the internet with traffic and slow things down terribly for the rest of us. The truth is it’s usually not some stereo-typical “pimple faced geek” locked away in his room just being a trouble making kid. Most of the time the “bad guys” create a program to do it automatically for them. This works a million times faster and is referred to as a “bot“. Click the word “bot” to learn more about….”bots“. 😉

This is a very simplified example and overall explanation. If you want to learn more about it check out this link: http://www.google.com/recaptcha/captcha or just google it.

Who are these “bad guys” anyway?

I assure you it’s not the teenager down the road! This kind of thing comes from many sources for many reasons. Some examples are pretty darn scary: Cyer-criminals including HUGE world wide crime syndicates like the Russian mob and Japanese Yakuza, corporate espionage, terrorists, and even whole countries waging war on other countries!!!! Whoaaaa!!!!

Want to get edumacated and learn more? Click this link and follow the rabbit hole:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_crime

For the record

I am not a super duper expert on all these things. I know some stuff though, and I feel it’s important to share. My goal is to bridge the gap. To provide a starting point for learning and further investigation. I blogged about, as I have with other things because I get asked about it regularly.

I hope you found some value in it.

Thanks for listening.