How Captcha Earning Sites Operate: A Look Inside

In many respects, CAPTCHA solver services operate like any legitimate enterprise, with one key difference - they are clearly in business to make a profit. These services have made it possible for attackers to completely circumvent CAPTCHAs, including Google's latest version called CAPTCHA Enterprise.

The process of solving CAPTCHAs is quite straightforward. An attacker using a bot connects to a website that presents a CAPTCHA challenge. Once an account is created and set up (in this case, with 2Captcha), the general process is illustrated in Figure 5. The steps below outline how an automated attack can leverage human labor when required.

To see firsthand how both sides of this business work, I signed up as both a solver and a customer with the Russian CAPTCHA solving company, 2Captcha. As a solver, my task was to solve CAPTCHAs and earn money. I captured images of the CAPTCHAs and sent them to 2Captcha via their API. The solved CAPTCHAs were then sent back to me.

On the other hand, as a customer, I purchased the output from human workers who solved CAPTCHAs. This allowed me to keep my automation running on CAPTCHA-protected sites. Human click farm solutions remain one of the most accessible and popular ways to bypass CAPTCHAs faster and more efficiently.

CAPTCHAs come in many forms, including those shown in Figures 1 and 2. They were first implemented in the late 1990s as a rudimentary reverse Turing test to help websites filter out growing volumes of problematic bot traffic. CAPTCHA is a backronym for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.

As head of the Shape Intelligence Center, I continue to watch our adversaries evolve, and I like to see for myself how common tools and services used against our customers operate, when I can. In my past life as a law enforcement and intelligence officer, I was often surprised by the innovation and maturity of the 'businesses' and services that cybercrime entrepreneurs develop.

In conclusion, CAPTCHA solver services are an essential part of the online landscape. While they may seem like a nuisance to some, they provide an opportunity for attackers to bypass CAPTCHAs and access sensitive information. As cybersecurity professionals, it is crucial that we understand how these services operate and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.

Captcha earning sites