Securing React Applications with ReCAPTZ: A Complete Guide

Meet Grandma Edna. She's 78 years old, runs a successful online knitting shop, and bakes the best cookies in town. Life was good — until hackers started attacking her website. Her shop, "Edna's Cozy Knits," was suddenly flooded with fake orders, spam messages, and Russian bot accounts trying to buy her hand-knitted sweaters using stolen credit cards. Grandma Edna wasn't going to let some cybercriminals mess with her business. She put down her knitting needles, adjusted her glasses, and said: "Not today, bots." And that's when she discovered ReCAPTZ. Step 1: Grandma Installs ReCAPTZ Her grandson, Timmy (a "tech whiz" who just started learning React), helped her install ReCAPTZ: npm install recaptz Then, they added a CAPTCHA to stop fake sign-ups: import { Captcha } from 'recaptz'; function SignupForm() { const handleValidate = (isValid: boolean) => { if (isValid) { console.log('Verified! Real customer detected.'); } }; return ( ); } Within minutes, Grandma Edna had stopped 99% of the fake accounts. But she wasn't done yet. Step 2: Stopping Spam Messages Bots were spamming her contact form with messages like: "Buy cheap Bitcoin now!" "Hot singles in your area!" "Prince of Nigeria needs your help!" Grandma Edna had enough. She added a letters-only CAPTCHA to her contact form: /^[a-zA-Z]+$/.test(value) || 'Only letters allowed, spammer!' }} onValidate={(isValid) => console.log('Verified:', isValid)} /> The scammers? Blocked. Gone. Vanished. Now, only real customers could ask Grandma about her sweaters. Step 3: Preventing Brute-Force Logins A hacker tried to guess Grandma's admin password by running a bot that tested thousands of combinations. Bad news for the hacker: Grandma was already two steps ahead. She added a CAPTCHA to her login page: console.log('Verified:', isValid)} /> Now, after 3 failed attempts and every 30 seconds, the CAPTCHA automatically refreshed, forcing bots to start over. Grandma's admin panel? Completely secure. Step 4: Making CAPTCHA Senior-Friendly Grandma loved ReCAPTZ, but she had one tiny request: "Timmy, my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Can we make it easier to read?" So Timmy enabled dark mode and audio support: console.log('Verified:', isValid)} /> Now, customers who struggled with small text could listen to the CAPTCHA instead. Step 5: Protecting the Checkout Page Some bots were still placing fake orders, so Grandma integrated ReCAPTZ into her checkout form using React Hook Form: Using React Hook Form import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form'; import { Captcha } from 'recaptz'; function CheckoutForm() { const { handleSubmit, setError, clearErrors } = useForm(); const [isCaptchaValid, setIsCaptchaValid] = useState(false); const onSubmit = (data) => { if (!isCaptchaValid) { setError('captcha', { type: 'manual', message: 'Complete the CAPTCHA' }); return; } console.log('Order placed successfully!'); }; return ( {/* Form fields */} { setIsCaptchaValid(isValid); if (isValid) clearErrors('captcha'); }} /> Buy Now ); } Using Formik import { Formik, Form } from 'formik'; import { Captcha } from 'recaptz'; function CheckoutForm() { return ( { if (values.captchaValid) { console.log('Order placed!'); } }} > {({ setFieldValue }) => ( {/* Form fields */} setFieldValue('captchaValid', isValid)} /> Submit )} ); } The bots? Completely shut out. Grandma Edna? Selling more sweaters than ever. The Victory After implementing ReCAPTZ, Grandma Edna's shop saw: ✅ Zero fake orders ✅ No more spam messages ✅ No more hacked accounts ✅ Higher customer satisfaction Grandma celebrated by knitting a new sweater. Timmy bragged to his friends about saving the family business. The hackers? They moved on — but not before leaving a 1-star review that got flagged as spam. Try ReCAPTZ for Yourself If Grandma Edna can protect her business with ReCAPTZ, so can you. Install it today: npm install recaptz Learn more: GitHub Don't let hackers, bots, and spammers ruin your website. Take back control with ReCAPTZ.

Apr 12, 2025 - 22:42
 0
Securing React Applications with ReCAPTZ: A Complete Guide

Meet Grandma Edna. She's 78 years old, runs a successful online knitting shop, and bakes the best cookies in town.

Life was good — until hackers started attacking her website.

Her shop, "Edna's Cozy Knits," was suddenly flooded with fake orders, spam messages, and Russian bot accounts trying to buy her hand-knitted sweaters using stolen credit cards.

Grandma Edna wasn't going to let some cybercriminals mess with her business.

She put down her knitting needles, adjusted her glasses, and said:

"Not today, bots."

And that's when she discovered ReCAPTZ.

Step 1: Grandma Installs ReCAPTZ

Her grandson, Timmy (a "tech whiz" who just started learning React), helped her install ReCAPTZ:

npm install recaptz

Then, they added a CAPTCHA to stop fake sign-ups:

import { Captcha } from 'recaptz';

function SignupForm() {
  const handleValidate = (isValid: boolean) => {
    if (isValid) {
      console.log('Verified! Real customer detected.');
    }
  };
  return (
    <Captcha
      type="mixed"
      length={6}
      onValidate={handleValidate}
    />
  );
}

Within minutes, Grandma Edna had stopped 99% of the fake accounts.

But she wasn't done yet.

Step 2: Stopping Spam Messages

Bots were spamming her contact form with messages like:

  • "Buy cheap Bitcoin now!"
  • "Hot singles in your area!"
  • "Prince of Nigeria needs your help!"

Grandma Edna had enough. She added a letters-only CAPTCHA to her contact form:

<Captcha
  type="letters"
  length={5}
  validationRules={{
    required: true,
    customValidator: (value) =>
      /^[a-zA-Z]+$/.test(value) || 'Only letters allowed, spammer!'
  }}
  onValidate={(isValid) => console.log('Verified:', isValid)}
/>

The scammers? Blocked. Gone. Vanished.

Now, only real customers could ask Grandma about her sweaters.

Step 3: Preventing Brute-Force Logins

A hacker tried to guess Grandma's admin password by running a bot that tested thousands of combinations.

Bad news for the hacker: Grandma was already two steps ahead.

She added a CAPTCHA to her login page:

<Captcha
  type="mixed"
  length={6}
  refreshable={true}
  maxAttempts={3}
  refreshInterval={30}
  validationRules={{
    required: true,
    minLength: 6
  }}
  onValidate={(isValid) => console.log('Verified:', isValid)}
/>

Now, after 3 failed attempts and every 30 seconds, the CAPTCHA automatically refreshed, forcing bots to start over.

Grandma's admin panel? Completely secure.

Step 4: Making CAPTCHA Senior-Friendly

Grandma loved ReCAPTZ, but she had one tiny request:

"Timmy, my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Can we make it easier to read?"

So Timmy enabled dark mode and audio support:

<Captcha
  type="mixed"
  length={6}
  darkMode
  enableAudio
  onValidate={(isValid) => console.log('Verified:', isValid)}
/>

Now, customers who struggled with small text could listen to the CAPTCHA instead.

Step 5: Protecting the Checkout Page

Some bots were still placing fake orders, so Grandma integrated ReCAPTZ into her checkout form using React Hook Form:

Using React Hook Form

import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form';
import { Captcha } from 'recaptz';

function CheckoutForm() {
  const { handleSubmit, setError, clearErrors } = useForm();
  const [isCaptchaValid, setIsCaptchaValid] = useState(false);

  const onSubmit = (data) => {
    if (!isCaptchaValid) {
      setError('captcha', { type: 'manual', message: 'Complete the CAPTCHA' });
      return;
    }
    console.log('Order placed successfully!');
  };

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)}>
      {/* Form fields */}
      <Captcha
        type="mixed"
        length={6}
        onValidate={(isValid) => {
          setIsCaptchaValid(isValid);
          if (isValid) clearErrors('captcha');
        }}
      />
      <button type="submit">Buy Nowbutton>
    form>
  );
}

Using Formik

import { Formik, Form } from 'formik';
import { Captcha } from 'recaptz';

function CheckoutForm() {
  return (
    <Formik
      initialValues={{ captchaValid: false }}
      onSubmit={(values) => {
        if (values.captchaValid) {
          console.log('Order placed!');
        }
      }}
    >
      {({ setFieldValue }) => (
        <Form>
          {/* Form fields */}
          <Captcha
            type="mixed"
            length={6}
            onValidate={(isValid) => setFieldValue('captchaValid', isValid)}
          />
          <button type="submit">Submitbutton>
        Form>
      )}
    Formik>
  );
}

The bots? Completely shut out.

Grandma Edna? Selling more sweaters than ever.

The Victory

After implementing ReCAPTZ, Grandma Edna's shop saw:

✅ Zero fake orders

✅ No more spam messages

✅ No more hacked accounts

✅ Higher customer satisfaction

Grandma celebrated by knitting a new sweater.

Timmy bragged to his friends about saving the family business.

The hackers? They moved on — but not before leaving a 1-star review that got flagged as spam.

Try ReCAPTZ for Yourself

If Grandma Edna can protect her business with ReCAPTZ, so can you.

Install it today:

npm install recaptz

Learn more:

GitHub

Don't let hackers, bots, and spammers ruin your website.

Take back control with ReCAPTZ.