Which Attacks Does Human Verification Protect Against?

Which of the following attacks can be effectively protected against by using techniques to check if a connection was made by a human user? (Choose two.)

  1. Brute-force Source Reference Answer
  2. Dictionary Source Reference Answer
  3. On-path attack
  4. Phishing
  5. Shoulder surfing

Community Votes

AB
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer AB. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Community Insight

Tests recognition of CAPTCHA as an anti-automation control, with the common trap being confusion between automated credential attacks and human-targeted social engineering threats.

This question evaluates understanding of CAPTCHA as an anti-automation security control. Community consensus confirms that human verification mechanisms effectively neutralize brute-force and dictionary attacks by blocking bot-driven login attempts.

Candidates frequently select Phishing or Shoulder Surfing because they misinterpret 'human verification' as user education or physical security, overlooking that the question specifically targets automated login scripts.

Community Discussion (8 comments)

priestb3 👍 13 Selected: AB
i got a stroke reading this
13thFloor 👍 12 Selected: AB
AB - the poorly worded question is referring to CAPCTHA - verifying you're not a robot.
laosythai 👍 4 Selected: AB
FFS I picked the wrong answer because whoever wrote this question English must be their 3rd or 4th language…
huradazimi 👍 1 Selected: AB
The attacks that can be effectively protected against by using techniques to check if a connection was made by a human user are Brute-force and Dictionary attacks. These techniques often involve CAPTCHA or similar methods to ensure that the connection attempts are made by a human rather than automated scripts.
tempovpn 👍 4 Selected: AB
I got this question on my exam yesterday. It's about CAPTCHA 100%
priestb3 👍 5 Selected: AB
Captcha..
subaie503 👍 5 Selected: AB
CAPTCHA
Soullifespirit 👍 1
ChatGPT The attacks that can be effectively protected against by using techniques to check if a connection was made by a human user are: D. Phishing E. Shoulder surfing

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Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, a control designed to block automated scripts. By forcing manual interaction during login, it drastically reduces the request rate, making high-speed credential testing unfeasible. This directly mitigates brute-force and dictionary attacks, which depend on rapid, machine-generated attempts.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

On-path attacks exploit network routing flaws to intercept traffic, rendering human verification irrelevant. Phishing relies on social engineering and psychological manipulation rather than automated login scripts. Shoulder surfing is a physical security breach involving visual theft of credentials, completely unrelated to digital authentication flows.

Community Comment Notes

High-voted comments consistently identify the question’s description as a direct reference to CAPTCHA implementation. Test-takers noted the slightly awkward phrasing but agreed that recognizing the anti-bot mechanism was essential to selecting the correct options. Multiple candidates confirmed encountering this exact scenario on their live exams, validating the community consensus.

Official Reference

Exam Strategy

When encountering vague descriptions like "verify human user," immediately map them to CAPTCHA or MFA controls. Focus on whether the attack relies on automation; if yes, human verification will always be the intended countermeasure in CompTIA scenarios.

Related Analysis

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