[Web4lib] Spam-resistant forms service

[Deborah Kaplan]

On Tue, 20 Jun 2006, John Fereira wrote:
> Please answer this simple math question
> 
> 7 + 46 = 
> 
> The numbers can randomly generated and the answer calculated each time 
> the form is displayed and stored in the session.  When the form is 
> submitted, the value in the form is tested against the correct answer.

I would make the math questions simpler than that (nothing that
adds up to greater than 10).  You still get randomness, but you
also accommodate users who have cognitive as well as physical
disabilities.

Technically a spammer could overcome that method, but it would
have to become widespread enough for the spammer to bother coding
to recognize the question, and as I said before, most people
wouldn't bother.

The vast majority of those who of us who aren't major news
organizations or Wikipedia really don't need much technology to
defeat spammers, because they just aren't going to put that much
effort into getting passed one small site's Turing test.

-Deborah