Being Anonymous? Why?

It has been proven that anonymous remailers can by law be made to give up the identity of a user. Therefore, another method is needed where sensible use of anonymity is called for.

Practice first.

It`s easy, when you first look at the configuration options inside your Web Browser or yours News Client, to think that you can become anonymous by simply not entering the correct details into the spaces provided. When your post to a newsgroup leaves your computer, it passes through your service provider who add an extra header to your post.


Path: news.demon.co.uk!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!example.com
From: bob@example.com (bob)
Newsgroups: alt.test
Subject: Test Posting. Ignore.
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 17:40:11 GMT
Lines: 22
Message-ID:<31fe456e.2125498@news>
NNTP-Posting-Host: example.com

It`s often easier to state something wrong in a post,
because more people reply to it than they do to a
correct post.

Regards: Bob.

As you can see, there is an NNTP -Posting host header, which gives your true identity away whatever you type into the configuration screens, not to mention the Path: line, which at the very least points in your general direction, if not straight at you.

So, to send news you need to find a server that accepts posts without adding one of these headers. There are lots of ways to collect news servers to try, but the best source of servers is to download lots of posts from the newsgroup alt.2600 as this is a place where lot`s of anonymous posts arrive.

Save all these posts out into one text file (News clients like the Forte Agent software allow you to do this, and you can specify that all headers remain intact.)

Next, by either writing a macro, a program or editing by hand, reduce the file to a list of servers to try from the path line. It is a fair assumption that any posts that have an NNTP-Posting host header are not worth trying!

When you have a list of servers, enter each one into your news package, along with your anonymous details into your news program or browser and attampt a post to this site. Choose a sensible group, such as alt.test, so as not to annoy people. When you post to alt.test, include the word IGNORE in the subject line, or various computers accross the Internet will send status reports about your posts propogation. This is educational to do once, but is a waste of time and bandwith if you are testing many messages.

When your post arrives, check the headers in it to see of you are completely anonymous. But as with anonymous mail, it is possible and very likely that your IP address has been logged along the way, and someone determined could track you down. So don`t threaten anybody`s life or anything :-)

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