Steam Introduces CAPTCHA Test In Trading Process

CAPTCHAs – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ‘em. They happen to be pretty useful when it comes to figuring out whether you are a human or a bot, but then again, there are moments when it can be pretty difficult to figure out just what that particular CAPTCHA says even as a human, no thanks to all of the twisting and warping of the characters shown. Well, Steam intends to introduce them into the trading process, so that potential malware can be thwarted – meaning your inventory will not be emptied out.

After the announcement on Friday, Steam did issue an apology, “We know it’s a bit of a hassle and we don’t like making trading harder for users, but we do expect it to significantly help customers who are tricked into downloading and running malware from losing their items.”

It is said that third-party trading services approved by Steam have received an exemption from the CAPTCHA obligation in order for them to function as normal. I would say that this is a necessary evil then, just like how air travel has changed ever since 9/11, where liquids more than 100ml are no longer allowed on board, not to mention the far more stringent security measures taken at airports, such as removal of belts, shoes and notebooks, among others.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Security