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Anonymity
on the Internet
There
are many reasons one may want to protect
their real identity, Put simply you have
a right to privacy & anonymity as
long as you use those rights ethically
and responsibly. You may want to protect
yourself from an oppressive
government,
Send something "off the
record" to a journalist,
Communicate with a self-help
organization,
or just want to post all those politically
incorrect thoughts.
Just
changing or clearing the 'real
name'
field in your newsreader setup won't
help you much unless your trying to pull
a fast one on one of your friends, It's
very easy to trace a message back to its
original site by reading the headers in
the mail message, and the system
administrator can easily look up the
senders 'real
name'.
Clearly
there is a better solution by using an
Anonymous Remailer, These systems strip
all headers from the message making it
next to impossible to trace where the
message originated. Some systems give
you an anonymous
address
that other people can send you mail,
which is then forwarded to your real
address, (Sometimes known as a pseudonymous
server) A majority of remailers use encryption.
Remailer
List
This is
an automatically generated listing of
remailers. The first part of the listing
shows the remailers along with
configuration options and special
features for each of the remailers. The
second part shows the twelve day
history, average latency, and uptime for
each remailer.You can the very latest
remailer information by fingering
rlist@anon.lcs.mit.edu.
This is
more or less, a fairly comprehensive
list of the known working Type-1 &
Type-II remailers
Penet
remailers
The
original Penet remailer was anon.penet.fi
run by Johan Helsingius which was closed
in 1996 after troubles with the Church
of Scientology, Spammers,
and a story ran in the Sunday Observer
alleging transmission of child
pornography from the penet.fi remailer
which was later proven false by Police
Sergeant Kaj Malmberg of the Helsinki
Police Computer Crime Squad.
Recently
a new penet class remailer is now open
for business and as of the 21th of
December 1998 had around 2000 regular
users.
Anonymous
email
offers all the same features of
anon.penet.fi
Mixmaster
remailers
Mixmaster
remailers are the next generation of
remailers, Using advanced techniques and
strong cryptography to make most methods
of traffic analysis next to impossible,
It however requires the use of a special
client
to generate the Mixmaster messages.
Below is a lists of links for more
information on Mixmaster remailers.
Run
your own remailer!
Joey
Grasty probably summed it up best on why
the Windows based remailers are needed,
For the most part remailers have been
installed and run by a dedicated, but
very small group of skilled cypherpunks
who wrote and ran remailers on Unix
systems. These remailers require
detailed knowledge of the Unix operating
systems. Most potential remailer
operators do not have this skill set and
do not have the computers that run Unix.
To fix this problem, Joey created a
remailer that runs under Windows and is
comparatively easy to setup and use. But
unfortunately Joey is no longer working
on the WinSock remailer. But that
doesn't mean there are no more Windows
based remailers.
Reliable
v1.0.5
offered by Potato
Software
is an anonymous Type I/Type II, Hybrid
remailer to run on the Windows operating
system. Reliable has several new options
not seen on other remailers. The Potato
home page has all the information to set
it up.
Required equipment
to run the Reliable
remailer are...
- Windows
95 or Windows 98 & Windows NT
3.51 and higher
- Computer
with ideally a Pentium processor,
and a minimum of 16MB of memory
- POP3
mail account
- SMTP
mail server
- NNTP
server (if direct posting to USENET
required)
- PGP
Version 5.5x or 2.6.x (RSA &
IDEA support required)
- Mixmaster
2.0.4
[b45 or later required] Optional
I
should mention that will the relative
low cost of Windows
computers
today, There is no real reason not to
start a remailer, Either for your own
personal use, for private groups, or to
take some of the load off the existing
remailer network. Check this space in
the future when I am ready to announce
the start of my remailer.
Remailing
from the WWW
There
may be the occasion that you don't have
access to your home machine and you have
to send an anonymous message to
somebody, It is not as secure as
composing your message off-line, Your
message and the final recipient are sent
unencrypted to the WWW server being
used, (Unless you're using SSL)
Opening yourself and your recipient to a
Man-In-the-Middle
Attack,
and your adversary can learn who and
what it is that you're mailing.
Newsgroups
dealing with Anonymity
alt.anonymous
alt.anonymous.email
alt.anonymous.messages
alt.hackers
alt.security.keydist
alt.security.pgp
comp.security.pgp
comp.security.pgp.announce
comp.security.pgp.discuss
comp.security.pgp.resources
comp.security.pgp.tech
misc.security
sci.crypt
sci.crypt.research
Mail
2 News gateways
A
mail 2 news gateway allows you to post
to newsgroups via e-mail, This is very
convenient if you want to use a remailer
or can't post to a particular newsgroup
because its not carried on your news
server or your provider doesn't offer
news.
Remailer
Tools
Using
a remailer at times can be a real pain
in the ass, but there are some tools and
commercial products aimed at
streamlining the process of sending
anonymous mail.
- Private
Idaho Version 3.52t Private
Idaho is an anonymous remailer
utility for Windows, Supporting PGP,
cypherpunk remailers (Type 1)
Mixmaster & nymservers. The
original Private
Idaho
information can be found at Joel
McNamara's WWW page.
- Jack
B. Nymble
v2.0
is a new Windows 95/NT application
for composing and sending anonymous
and nym messages. Its from the same
folks that brought you the Potato
DOS remailer client.
- Potato
v2.3
is a DOS remailer client that works
well in Windows, Which prepares
anonymous messages which are then
mailed from your e-mail client.
- Privtool
Version 0.90
is intended to be a PGP aware
replacement for the standard Sun
workstation mailtool, Privtool now
runs on Linux, Free-BSD, Solaris,
and SunOS.
- NewsRover
is a off-line Usenet newsgroup
reader and posting program that
works well with remailers to post
private Usenet messages and e-mail
- S-Tools-4
is one of many steganography
tools that hides messages in photos,
or sounds that could be posted to
Usenet or stored on your computer.
Steganography relies on security by
obscurity, If people don't know
there is a message hidden, they
won't look for it. If you download
this software,
I have a test picture
for you to try it out.
Anonymous
& Public Proxy's
You
would be amazed the about the amount of
information left behind every time you
visit a website, If you send mail from Hotmail,
it will log your providers IP number and
send it with your message. Proxys allow
you to avoid using your provider's IP
address, Some ISP's and countries have
blocked certain IP's from accessing
certain sites on the Internet, A proxy
will allow you to access those sites.
- MagusNet
Anonymous Public Proxy Server
will allow free users to chain proxy
servers for greater anonymity, and
is available on multiple ports and
domains to thwart filtering. Paying
accounts can make user of the 128
bit SSL encryption and offers some
of the services of the Janus
service.
- Anon.xg.nu
With
and without SSL, Please read the Acceptable
Use Agreement
before
using!
- Anonymouse
is a free anonymous proxy
located in Germany.
- ProxyMate
(Formally
LPWA Lucent
Personalized Web Assistant)
is a new tool that provides
convenience, privacy, enhanced
security, and assists on controlling
spam.
(Note:
There are some who belive the LPWA
is a web based version of Echelon
scooping up all sorts of information
about the users of the LPWA, Some of
Lucent's customers & contacts
within the U.S. Government are the NSA,
FBI,
U.S.
Navy
and SAIC.
None of these rumors have been
confirmed, nor denied. -WK)
- I-Security
- A free Web-based proxy service for
anonymous Web surfing. A graphics
free option available for quicker
downloads and privacy from "Web
bugs".
- SinaProxy.com:
Australian-based service which
allows anonymous web browsing.
- Websperts
Anonymous Proxy Fast
proxy from Czech Republic Down
because of abuse.
- Defcon
Proxy Server
Down
indefinitely
The Defcon
proxy server also comes SSL
encrypted!
- COTSE
Anonymizer
- A free Web-based anonymizer from
the security and privacy information
center "Church of the Swimming
Elephant".
- Proxys-4-All
is the largest & all
around best site for both public and
anonymous proxy information, (HTTP,
FTP, Telnet, Socks, Gopher,
Security, and WAIS) Well worth a
couple hours learning &
exploring this site. You have to
wish there were more places like
this on the Internet!
Privacy
& Anonymous service providers
I
have been trying to put together a list
of providers who care more about the
privacy and security of their users than
that of the almighty dollar,
Surpassingly they are few & far
between (Probably too anonymous to tell
anyone.) Most of these providers use
telnet, Some use SSH,
or S/Key
to log in for added protection. Mail me
if you would like your company listed.
- Anonymize.net
All
in one private
& secured Internet access.
- HushMail
Is the world's first 1024
bit encrypted free mail service with
SSL encryption!
- Freedom.net
Anonymous mail, telnet, IRC,
SSH and web-surfing.
- SecureNym
Offers secure and anonymous web
based E-mail by subscription.
- Pop3Now:
Access
your mail from the web with SSL
encryption.
- Cyberpass
Run by Lance Cottrell, a well known
cryptographer & cypherpunk.
- LOD
Communications
$10 a month shell account with WWW
page.
- SecureNym
secure e-mail to businesses
as well as individual mail accounts.
- PrivacyX
Free anonymous e-mail service using digital
certificates.
- Data
Haven Project
$10 a month shell account with full
access.
- Offshore
Information Services
Anonymous services from Anguilla
B.W.I.
- Somebody.net
Anonymous surfing and
anonymous email services.
- Altopia
Privacy accounts now, Anonymous
accounts later...
Not
too anonymous, but better than
nothing...
- Juno
is a free Windows only Internet
service supported by advertisers,
When you sign on they will ask you
for all sorts of information about
your hobbies, income, address &
name, However I am told of a cat
(four-legged kind) who has an
account with Juno, and when it comes
to addresses, There is always 1060
West Addison, Chicago IL 60613.
- AOL
Used be called the largest
anonymous service provider in the
world allowing up to five screen
names each of which is a pseudonym
only traceable by AOL and law
enforcement. Recent events of AOL
staff breaching customers identities
through social engineering by the
U.S. Military and others have led me
to nearly take AOL of this list, But
if you want idiot-proof services, It
can't be beat.
Anonymity
Technology
- The
Anonymizer
enables users to surf the WWW
anonymously, stop cookies from being
issued, stop Java and JavaScript
access to browser and hard drive
information, and effectively blocks
tracking I.P. addresses.
- Zero-Knowledge
Systems
Its a cypherpunk's wet
dream coming true, Offering a
product that will manage a users
digital identity, encrypts and
routes traffic through the Freedom
network,
transparently decrypts all incoming
traffic, watches all outbound
traffic for personal information,
places cookies in a 'cookie jar' and
filters spam, All for $49.95 U.S.D.!
Like it? WANT IT?
- Rewebber
(Formally
Janus)
is a service that makes it possible
to offer WWW pages to be posted
anonymously as long as the content
doesn't contradict moral standards,
(Pornography, racism, or violence,
Among others.) Rewebber encrypts all
references of the URL with a 768 bit
RSA
key and makes the source URL
unintelligible, and gives no
information about the original URL.
- IDzap
Anonymous web surfing and
access services.
- ZipLip
offers snoop-proof mail,
Password protected, and securely
deletes when you're finished with
it.
- The
Eternity Service
is a distributed data-haven which
takes a different approach to
ensuring unpopular content and
anonymous speech can be published
without fear of censorship.
- Mojonation
is
a revolutionary new publishing and
content-sharing network. It combines
the flexibility of the marketplace
and the distributed computing power
of the Internet.
- Crowds
is
a system to protect your privacy
while browsing the web, it prevents
a web server from learning
information that could identify you.
Crowds was named for the notion of
blending into a crowd, Crowds
operates by grouping users into a
large & geographically diverse
group (Crowd) that collectively
issues requests for its members. Web
servers wouldn't be able to tell the
true source of the request since it
could have come from Cape Town or
Chicago. The team working on Crowds
is looking for testers of their
system, Lucky users who keep their
Crowds server running all the time
can win this cool t-shirt.
Not
ready for prime-time, But worth a
look...
- TAZ
Servers and the Rewebber Network
Ian
Goldberg
and David
Wagner's
implementation of the Janus
Service
allowing users to publish WWW pages
anonymously without fear of being
identified by social and political
groups, while offering good
protection and protection from
abuse.
- Onion
Routing
The Onion Routing research
project is attempting to build an
Internet based system that is
strongly resistant to traffic
analysis, eavesdropping, and other
attacks by both outsiders and
insiders. This will give the sender
of a message, and occasionally the
receiver anonymity from the medium.
The only thing the network knows is
that communication is taking place,
But it has no idea who or what is
being communicated. (Note:
The contradiction of what Onion
Routing is trying to do compared to
the the warning at the bottom of the
page is good for a giggle. -WK)
Organizations
and interest groups
- American
Civil Liberties Union
is the United States
foremost advocate of individual
rights, litigation, legislating, and
educating the public on a broad
array of issues affecting individual
freedoms in the U.S., The ACLU also
has a site for dealing with the police.
- Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse
Offers consumers a unique
opportunity to learn how to protect
their personal privacy with
publications and tips on privacy.
- Electronic
Privacy Information Center
is a public interest research center
in Washington D.C. Established in
1994 to focus public attention on
emerging civil liberty issues,
protecting privacy, and the 1st
Amendment.
- Electronic
Frontier Foundation
is a non-profit civil liberties
organization working in the public
interest to protect privacy, free
expression, and access to public
resources and information online.
- Right
To Privacy
An open discussion site on
privacy issues around the world.
- Internet
Privacy Coalition's
mission is to promote privacy and
security on the Internet through
widespread public use of strong
encryption.
- Americans
for Computer Privacy
A coalition working to
ensure the online privacy and
communication in today information
age.
- Big
Brother Inside
Keeping your PC safe from
those who want to ID you.
- Privacy
International
is a human rights group formed in
1990 as a watchdog on surveillance
by governments and corporations.
Books
on Anonymity
Publications
& articles on anonymity
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