vBulletin captcha *cracked*

[Freddie Bingham]

Post in the suggestions folder so that it will be looked at in time.

[AlexanderT]

Some more interesting stuff on how to crack captchas:

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~mori/gimpy/gimpy.html

[MrNase]

I understand the need of CAPTCHA but sometimes this really annoys me.. Some days ago a friend of mine asked me to vote for this website. I really tried to but they were using CAPTCHA to generate a code and the image was so strange that you couldn't read a word. I tried it three times in a row and finally left without voting.

From what I have seen in 3.5 the system has improved very much but I also found that many users still have problems with it.

The real problem is: a readable word can also be read by a computer which makes it quite pointless.. A harder to read word also makes it harder for a human.

Just as MGM said, it would be nice if the Administrator could specify own colors and backgrounds. Using this method bad people can't use a simple software to *crack* the CAPTCHA and they need a more specific one which can deal with your own, specific background

[Impreza04]

Ive put a link to the contact form for people who have trouble reading the captcha..

[MrNase]

Well that won't help those who are not logged in and want to use the contact form because vB3.5 uses CAPTCHA even on this page

[Wayne Luke]

Well that won't help those who are not logged in and want to use the contact form because vB3.5 uses CAPTCHA even on this page

It is actually optional to use CAPTCHA on the Contact Us Page.

[Ordovicium]

Very interessting because I use vB3.6 and I got recently following posting. So it looks like, that captcha has been cracked again?!

[Steve Machol]

I'm curious why anyone would automatically assume that the captcha is cracked just because they get spam. Last I heard, real people actually register on forums to spam too.

[Ordovicium]

Ok I got several postings with different usernames. I add now the plugin from http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=124828
Maybe I will get less spams now. We will see.

[ManagerJosh]

If I may suggest, to address the following issues in your CAPTCHA to increase the difficulty in spam bots registering

a) upgrading to the latest version of vBulletin (3.6.4 currently)
b) enabling backgrounds instead of the traditional white captcha background
c) enabling random fonts, random font sizes, random colors, and random slant.
d) Using GD True Type Font

The above combination should make a very tough captcha that will make it very difficult for bots to register over your current CAPTCHA setup.

[MrNase]

The above combination should make a very tough captcha that will make it very difficult for bots to register over your current CAPTCHA setup.

Not only for bots.. Several people complained that they had problems with my CAPTCHA setup and some of them gave up trying after three tries.

[SSSlippy]

So you realize this, you must turn on these captcha options in 3.6 the default is quite easily passed by a bot. 3.6 captcha is very strong.

[WoodiE]

Not only for bots.. Several people complained that they had problems with my CAPTCHA setup and some of them gave up trying after three tries.

I've noticed the same thing, the new CAPTCHA works very well, to well as I've had people complain they can't read it. I've since switched over to the NoSpam! hack and have had no complaints yet and still no spam!