Are You a Human

Are You a Human was a cybersecurity firm founded in 2010 by Tyler Paxton, Reid Tatoris, and Ben Blackmer, who met at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. The company was established to combat the growing issue of internet bots, which clutter the web, perpetrate fraud, and degrade the online experience for genuine users.

Initially, the company focused on replacing traditional CAPTCHA systems. Instead of asking users to decipher distorted text, Are You a Human developed interactive, game-based challenges called PlayThru. These simple mini-games were designed to be an engaging and less frustrating method of verifying a user's humanity. Revenue was generated by incorporating branding from advertising partners into some of the games, offering advertisers a more effective unit than standard pop-ups or banners. Over time, the company's technology evolved from game-based verification to a more sophisticated analysis of natural user behavior, such as mouse movements and touch patterns on mobile devices. This allowed them to verify human users across a network of over 200,000 websites, creating a 'Whitelist™' of verified humans without constantly challenging them.

The firm operated in the digital security and advertising technology markets, serving websites and online businesses that needed to ensure their traffic was from real people. As the company grew, its focus expanded to providing a broader suite of bot detection and mitigation services. In a significant market consolidation move, HUMAN Security, Inc. (formerly White Ops) announced its merger with PerimeterX in July 2022. Are You a Human had previously been acquired by PerimeterX. This merger created a combined entity under the HUMAN brand with a comprehensive platform to protect against a wide array of digital threats, from ad fraud to account takeovers, serving over 500 customers. Keywords: bot detection, CAPTCHA replacement, cybersecurity, ad fraud, user verification, PlayThru, online security, human verification, digital advertising, fraud prevention, Are You a Human, HUMAN Security, PerimeterX, Tyler Paxton, Reid Tatoris, Ben Blackmer, Whitelist, bot mitigation, behavior analysis, interactive verification