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Do You Need CAPTCHA? 
By: Oleg
CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Developed and trademarked by Carnegie Mellon University, the job of this test it to know if it's a person or a computer trying to access your system or website. Read more about CAPTCHA at http://www.protectwebform.com/.
After a CAPTCHA is installed, when there is an attempted access to the system there is a test given to determine if it is a human or a computer attempting access. Generally, CAPTCHA uses a picture of some distorted letters or numbers and asks for them to be retyped. A person can understand what the distorted letters are supposed to look like, while a computer cannot. Therefore, if the right answer is given, the test determines they are human. It's very easy to use and you can learn more about it at http://www.protectwebform.com/smartcaptcha.
If you've put your email address anywhere on your website, there's no doubt you've gotten a lot of spam because of it. Unfortunately what you do to let those who visit your website contact you, is what bots (animated programs searching the web for user id's and emails) are looking for. They grab a hold of that email address and add it to their lists that are about to be used, without your permission, for spamming.
Another option is CAPTCHA that does not allow the spammers to get access to your email ids. Many websites and sign-up pages use CAPTHCA. It assumes that computer programs cannot read distorted characters. It is considered fairly reliable.
As a fully automated program, CAPTCHA is so advanced it creates tests that can only be completed properly by humans. And since it runs itself, you don't have to baby-sit the system for it to work. This is why so many webmasters use CAPTCHA to keep their sites safe and secure.
Spammers are a nuisance. Once they get hold of your email id, you are bombarded with spam mails and you can never be sure what your id will be used for. This is where CAPTCHA comes to your rescue by preventing abuse of your system.
CAPTCHAs not only prevent encroachment by spammers for commercial purpose, it also protects the systems that are gullible to spam like, the webmail services of Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo. They also help prevent automated postings on online blogs. There are some services which might allow automated use but within a limit. In such a scenario CAPTCHA helps in enforcing a usage policy and prevents any kind of deviation from the policy.
There have been numerous efforts at creating CAPTCHAs that are handier. Such endeavours usually include the use of JavaScript, mathematical questions (like "what is 1+1"), or simple questions requiring common sense (for instance "what color is the sky"). These attempts infringe on one or both of the philosophy of CAPTCHAs. Either they cannot be automatically created or they can be easily split given the condition of false intelligence. So, the only security these CAPTCHAs provide is safety through obscurity.
Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles
The author, Oleg, is an expert on CAPTCHA design. Click to learn more about his revolutionary new Smart CAPTCHA technology.
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