The end is nigh.

Days after the Windows Live Mail CAPTCHA system was cracked by spammers, reports state that the Gmail CAPTCHA system has fallen as well.

CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Ever signed up for an email or forum account, and been required to enter in a group of characters? That's a CAPTCHA system.

Folks are calling this hack the most sophisticated they have seen to date. Whereas cracking Windows Live Mail CAPTCHA required one compromised host, cracking Gmail took the combined efforts of two hosts. And because of Gmail's more sophisticated CAPTCHA system, only one in five breaking requests succeed.

While one in five doesn't sound like much, keep in mind that Spambots are constantly working at registering hundreds of email addresses at a time, 24/7. These Spambots can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.

Oh, wait, that's another bot we're thinking of...

So for all the spammer's effort, what are they getting in return?

• They gain access to Google's wide portfolio of services
• They gain an address whose domain is highly unlikely to be blacklisted, helping them defeat one aspect of anti-spam defenses.
• Gmail also has the benefit of being free to use.
• Because Gmail has millions of users, it makes the spammers harder to track.

It might be time to invest in that underground bunker you've had your eye on.

[via ars technica]