Security News > 2022 > June > A great day for non-robots: iOS 16 will bypass CAPTCHAs

Apple has introduced a game-changer into its upcoming iOS 16 for those who hate CAPTCHAs, in the form of a feature called Automatic Verification.

The feature does exactly what its name alludes to: automatically verifies devices and Apple ID accounts without any action from the user.

In a corresponding developer video, software engineer Tommy Pauly, who works on the networking stack for Apple's client operating systems, cited user experience, privacy and accessibility as reasons to move away from the old school CAPTCHA verification system.

To achieve this CAPTCHA-free utopia, available in both iOS 16 and macOS, Apple relies on Private Access Tokens, which use technology in the process of being standardized by industry organization Internet Engineering Task Force.

The tokens use RSA Blind Signatures to cryptographically sign off on an attestation check, confirmed via certificates stored in the device without giving away user identities.

Developers can use content delivery networks Fastly and Cloudflare to sign tokens validated by their servers as they've already invested in developing in the standards and made the CAPTCHA eliminating services available - but they won't be the only options.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/06/21/believe_it_or_not_apple/