The new technology will be completely invisible to the end user, allowing Web sites to verify that someone is not a robot without forcing them to try to decipher distorted images of text, according to Google.
Marketing the new version of the reCAPTCHA service as "tough on bots, easy on humans," the company isn't offering up any details on how exactly the security system works. All that Google will say is that the update relies on machine learning and advanced risk analysis to make informed decisions about who's human and who's a bot.
The reCAPTCHA system is a security safeguard used by Web sites to weed out malicious bots from human users. The platform was acquired by Google in 2009, and is now the most widely used provider of CAPTCHA verification technology in the world, according to Google.
CAPTCHA involves asking users to perform a series of visual-perception tasks, such as reading distorted text, to prove they're real. But the procedure can prove frustrating for users, such as when they appear in the middle of financial transactions, or if users are visually impaired.
Google said the latest version of the technology is an improvement over previous versions of the verification system, in which users had to verify they were not bots by clicking on checkboxes. Now, however, reCAPTCHA will only subject users exhibiting suspicious activity to additional security challenges.
"Since the launch of No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA, millions of Internet users have been able to attest they are human with just a...