A challenge-response system is a program that replies to an e-mail message from an unknown sender by subjecting the sender to a test (called a CAPTCHA) designed to differentiate humans from automated senders. The system ensures that messages from people can get through and the automated mass mailings of spammers will be rejected. Once a sender has passed the test, the sender is added to the recipient's whitelist of permitted senders that won't have to prove themselves each time they send a message.

Challenge-response systems take a number of different approaches to the task of separating humans from machines. Typically, when a message is received, the system sends a reply that includes a URL linking the user to a Web site. At the Web site, the user is asked to perform some task that, while easy for a human, is beyond the capabilities of an automated spamming program. The system might ask the answer to a simple question, for example, or require the user to copy distorted letters or numbers displayed in an image.

Companies that provide free e-mail accounts often use a challenge-response system to ensure that their accounts aren't given out to spammer's programs. According to Carnegie Mellon's CAPTCHA Project, computerized programs can create thousands of new e-mail accounts per second, each of which can be used to send out reams of spam.

04 Jun 2007