Title: Image-based face detection CAPTCHA for improved security

Authors: Brian M. Powell, Adam C. Day, Richa Singh, Mayank Vatsa, Afzel Noore

Addresses: Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. ' Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. ' Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi, New Delhi, 110078, India. ' Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi, New Delhi, 110078, India. ' Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel image-based completely automated public turing test to tell computers and humans apart (CAPTCHA) that relies on detecting human faces to provide an additional layer of security in web-based services. Face images were selected from the CMU face database and subjected to different types of distortions at different intensity levels to make the automatic face detection very challenging. An extensive experimental study involving 1,100 individuals was undertaken to determine the efficacy of the proposed approach and evaluate the performance of humans compared to computers. We also used two image quality metrics to objectively study the characteristics of the composite CAPTCHA images. Unlike a text-based CAPTCHA, a major benefit of the proposed image-based face detection CAPTCHA is that it does not have any language barriers. In addition, the proposed CAPTCHA can easily be implemented on handheld devices to provide an additional level of security.

Keywords: public Turing test; CAPTCHA; web security; face detection; human-interactive proof; human faces; web services; face images; handheld devices.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIS.2010.037541

International Journal of Multimedia Intelligence and Security, 2010 Vol.1 No.3, pp.269 - 284

Published online: 15 Dec 2010 *

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