A report from security firm BitDefender suggests that spammers may have found a way to automatically break through certain types of graphical “captcha” code.

“Captchas” are used in an attempt to restrict certain online registrations and other interactions to real human beings, rather than automated robots. They’re a fairly controversial method that are supposed to reduce the amount of spam circulating the web, but are difficult or impossible for some humans to read, as well as adding another level of complexity to simple processes.